New York Times: The Trump family's "dirtiest ever" crypto world money-making scheme is worse than the Watergate scandal.

When cryptocurrency enters the White House, the Trump family attracts global funds through tokens, creating an unprecedented model of the combination of power and money, reshaping a new paradigm of political corruption. This article is based on a piece by Jacob Silverman in The New York Times, organized, edited, and written by Kaori and Peggy from BlockBeats. (Background: Trump raised $250 million for the construction of the White House 'Crypto Banquet Hall,' with the event gathering Coinbase, Meta, Google, Amazon.) (Context: Michael Saylor: The moment of Bitcoin passion has passed! Retail investors will 'get increasingly bored.') The combination of money and power is not new, but when this combination appears in the form of 'tokens,' when the image of a head of state is minted into a tradable asset, and when political influence can flow freely on the blockchain, what we face is no longer corruption in the traditional sense, but a systemic restructuring. This article documents not just a single scandal but a paradigm shift: the president is no longer just a political figure but becomes the largest token holder in a decentralized economy; diplomatic relations are no longer achieved through secret talks but are connected through wallet addresses. Technology, once seen as a guarantee of transparency and fairness, may now become a new power broker. When cryptocurrency enters the White House, and the digital shadow of the dollar intertwines with national will, we must rethink a question: In this era of 'on-chain sovereignty,' do the boundaries of power still exist? Below is the original text. A new wallet of power: How cryptocurrency enters the White House If you are an authoritarian leader trying to influence another head of state, you might gift him a luxurious Boeing 747; you might spend lavishly at his hotels or invest in the many businesses he and his children own; you might even buy the sneakers, NFTs, and other branded products he launches. In the case of President Trump, potential 'power brokers' have a richer menu of options. But now, all of this seems superfluous. During the campaign, Trump announced his cryptocurrency plan—World Liberty Financial—and launched a 'meme coin' named after himself just days before his inauguration. Anyone who buys World Liberty tokens can indirectly funnel money to the Trump family business. Through a crypto project controlled by the president, his son, and family friends, the Trump family has amassed billions of dollars in paper wealth. World Liberty has become a powerful conduit of influence: anyone—whether you, me, or a UAE prince—can fill Trump's pockets simply by purchasing tokens issued by the company. The key lies in this 'convenience.' For those seeking influence, cash-filled briefcases and Swiss bank accounts have been replaced by crypto tokens that can be quickly transferred between wallets and exchanges. More sophisticated crypto users—state actors, hacker organizations, money laundering groups—can also obscure transaction trails using tools like 'mixers.' This very convenience has made cryptocurrency the preferred tool for criminal organizations and sanction evaders. The illusion of transparency: When corruption occurs in the name of 'decentralization' This is unprecedented in American political history. Looking back at the scandals of past administrations—the corrupt aides surrounding President Grant, the oil lease bribes in the 'Teapot Dome scandal' during Harding's era, and Nixon's 'Watergate'—none have seen the personal and governmental interests so massively intertwined as with Trump, nor has anyone profited so greatly from the mix. There is nothing innovative here; the truly 'novel' aspect lies in the current president's open use of his name, image, and social media influence to promote crypto tokens that are virtually indistinguishable from thousands of other products on the market. In the eyes of MAGA supporters and ordinary speculators, purchasing these tokens may mean 'going broke'; for a president to lead political supporters into such high-risk investments is itself a condemnable act. But the greater risk is that powerful foreign entities may funnel enormous sums of money to Trump. For any head of state, buying Trump's tokens or investing in his crypto projects has become a form of direct political speculation. This is the distorted incentive created by Trump's 'crypto donation box.' For instance, consider the recent two multi-billion dollar transactions involving Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of the most influential figures in the UAE, and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff: In the first transaction, the state investment fund led by Tahnoon pledged to invest in Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, using $2 billion worth of USD1 stablecoin (issued by World Liberty Financial). (A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency aimed at maintaining value stability and serving as a substitute for 'digital dollars.') Notably, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng is seeking Trump's pardon after admitting to money laundering crimes. In the second transaction, Witkoff facilitated an agreement with David Sacks, the 'AI and Cryptocurrency Chief' appointed by Trump—risk investor David Sacks—to allow the UAE to purchase hundreds of thousands of high-end AI chips for data center construction. These chips are highly sought after in the global AI race and are subject to strict export controls. Experts are concerned that these chips may be resold or shared with Chinese companies. While there is no conclusive evidence showing a clear 'exchange of interests' in these two transactions, the participants and interest networks highly overlap, and the public-private blending model is becoming a hallmark of the Trump administration. The use of $2 billion worth of USD1 stablecoin by Tahnoon is itself intriguing. If his purpose was merely to invest in Binance, he could simply wire the money. By choosing to use World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin as an 'intermediary,' he is effectively 'bloodletting' for a company that benefits Witkoff and Trump directly. Despite the scandalous nature, Trump's crypto activities largely unfold in a relatively public environment. Some notorious figures in the crypto world even boast on social media about their purchases of tens of millions of dollars worth of WLFI tokens. Among the most active is Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun—who frequently showcases the large amounts of World Liberty and Trump meme coins he holds on social media, positioning himself as a significant supporter of Trump's crypto empire. In February, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested a federal judge to suspend the civil fraud lawsuit against Sun, and the court granted this request. In May, Sun, as one of the top holders of Trump meme coins, was invited to a dinner at Trump's National Golf Club in Virginia—where he received a gold watch gifted by the president. In the past (just a few years ago), if a president were involved in such obvious conflicts of interest, Congress would have held hearings, and law enforcement would have opened investigations. However, the recent Supreme Court ruling on 'presidential immunity' has rendered these oversight measures almost meaningless. The Justice Department will not prosecute a sitting president. And at the start of his new term, Trump dismissed 18 inspectors general—who could have…