Trump family WLFI investigated! 17 billion investment portfolio shrinks to 8 billion USD

The World Liberty Financial (WLFI) project led by the family of U.S. President Trump has seen its governance token fall over 40% since its public trading began. The fund's portfolio plummeted from a peak of $17 billion in September 2025 to below $8 billion in December. The U.S. continues to investigate the scandal involving the Trump family allegedly selling coins to sanctioned targets in Iran, North Korea, and Russia, while the White House insists the accusations are unfounded.

Two rounds of token sale raised 550 million dollars bubble

(Source: CoinTelegraph)

The collapse of WLFI began with its aggressive token sale strategy. In October 2024, the project completed its initial token sale, selling approximately 20 billion WLFI tokens at a price of $0.015 each, raising around $300 million. Subsequently, a second sale was conducted from January to March 2025, selling approximately 5 billion tokens at a price of $0.05 each, raising another $250 million. The two rounds of fundraising totaled $550 million, setting a record for the largest scale of political figures involved in cryptocurrency.

However, the high-priced fundraising did not bring corresponding value. After the WLFI Token was publicly traded, its price continued to decline, falling over 40% from the initial issuance price. More seriously, the majority of WLFI Tokens held by the Trump family through contracts were valued at over $5 billion during the market peak in September, but as mainstream coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum entered a correction period, the value of these holdings significantly shrank.

In March 2025, the Trump family issued their own stablecoin USD1, attempting to carve out a share in the stablecoin market. In June, they reached an agreement with the decentralized finance protocol PancakeSwap, a subsidiary of Binance, to promote the asset. In August, World Liberty reached a $1.5 billion private placement and fund vault transaction with ALT5 Sigma Corporation, where ALT5 exchanged its 100 million shares of common stock for WLFI Tokens, effectively creating a cryptocurrency fund vault. These moves seemed glamorous during the bull market, but as the market turned, they all became hot potatoes.

The three-month crash trajectory from 17 billion to 8 billion

(Source: CoinTelegraph)

The collapse speed of the WLFI investment portfolio is shocking. Public tracking data shows that in September 2025, the fund was valued at over 17 billion USD, right at the peak of that year's bull market. But just three months later, on December 11, the asset value had fallen below 8 billion USD, evaporating 9 billion USD, a shrinkage of 47%.

WLFI Holdings Structure and Loss Analysis

Heavy asset big dump disaster area

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC): Position of 21.5 million USD, suffered heavy losses with the BTC correction.

Ethereum (ETH): Large holdings follow the market fall.

USD1 Stablecoin: Self-issued asset liquidity is insufficient

Aave related assets: The cooling of the DeFi market has dragged down performance

Mantle (MNT): Small coin volatility exacerbates losses

fatal error timing

· Buy high-valued assets heavily at the peak of the bull market.

· Lack of risk hedging mechanism

· Excessively focused on highly volatile cryptocurrencies

This type of portfolio allocation can generate amazing returns during a bull market, but becomes a disaster when the market turns. WLFI made several large-scale acquisitions during the 2025 cryptocurrency bull market, purchasing a basket of assets worth millions of dollars. However, these acquisitions were made just around the market peak, when Bitcoin fell from its historical high, causing the entire portfolio to collapse.

Investigation of Sanctions List Scandal and Conflicts of Interest

The biggest crisis facing WLFI is not market losses, but the escalating controversy over conflicts of interest. Historically, U.S. presidents typically avoid engaging in any business activities that may create conflicts of interest with presidential duties. Former President Jimmy Carter became famous for placing his peanut farm in a blind trust during his term. Trump, on the other hand, took the completely opposite approach, actively participating in business activities that directly serve his economic and political interests.

In April 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Maxine Waters wrote to then-acting SEC Chairman Mark Uyeda, requesting that the SEC “preserve all records and communications related to World Liberty Financial.” They urged the SEC to determine the extent to which Trump's involvement would undermine its ability to effectively regulate.

More serious allegations erupted in November. Accountable.US released a report stating that World Liberty Financial sold tokens to sanctioned individuals connected to Iran, North Korea, and Russia. This accusation directly touches the red line of U.S. national security and, if true, would constitute a serious violation. Warren again called for an investigation into the matter.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded strongly, stating that these allegations are unfounded. She accused the media of “constantly trying to fabricate conflicts of interest,” calling this practice “irresponsible and exacerbating public distrust in media reporting.” Jean-Pierre stated, “The President and his family have never participated in any conflicts of interest in the past, nor will they in the future. This administration is fulfilling the President's commitment to make America the world's cryptocurrency capital by promoting innovation and creating economic opportunities for all Americans.”

World Liberty claims that they conducted anti-money laundering and KYC checks on potential buyers, “and rejected millions of dollars in offers from potential buyers who failed the tests.” However, this defense has failed to quell external doubts.

Trump's Cryptocurrency Empire's Multi-line Layout and Future Fog

The Trump family's cryptocurrency ambitions are not limited to WLFI. Trump Media & Technology Group operates the fintech brand Truth.Fi. In September 2025, the company acquired Cronos (CRO) tokens worth $684.4 million at a price of approximately $0.153 each, totaling $104.7 million. This is part of a 50% stock and 50% cash exchange with a CEX.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. also founded and support the cryptocurrency mining company American Bitcoin. According to Solid Intel data, as of December 10, the company holds a total of 4,784 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $420 million. These multi-line layouts demonstrate the Trump family's attempt to position themselves across various segments of the cryptocurrency industry chain.

Despite a significant shrinkage in the value of its investment portfolio, WLFI is still actively promoting new assets and trading. On December 3, its co-founder Zach Wietekov announced that the company will launch a series of real-world assets (RWA) in January 2026. This radical expansion against the backdrop of huge losses raises the question of whether it is a desperate counterattack or merely a stopgap measure, and the market is watching closely.