The Trump Crypto Orgy of Corruption

We are living in very unusual times and corrupt times. Never before has an American president been so brazen in his corruption and self-enrichment. This new phenomenon, what Senator Elizabeth Warren coined as an "orgy of corruption," is staggering in scope, and while I'm under no illusion that writing about this will be news to anyone, I feel compelled to document it for the public record as it is far worse than anything I predicted back in 2020. The Trump administration's intermingling with crypto is like witnessing ten Watergates every day, marking a period of brazen self-enrichment and systemic decay utterly unprecedented in the annals of the American presidency, and indeed, unseen in any mature democracy. This is not a policy shift, but rather a flagrant embrace of practices typically confined to banana republics and autocracies, as the administration systematically dismantled regulatory oversight, fostered blatant conflicts of interest, and normalized a level of corruption that directly benefited the President and his inner circle.

Under this administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission completely stopped its cryptocurrency enforcement activities. This retreat included abandoning numerous investigations and lawsuits against major industry players. Notably, the SEC dropped its lawsuit against Binance, the world's largest exchanges, even after its CEO had pleaded guilty to federal money laundering charges. The commission also moved to dismiss over a dozen other cases against crypto firms. A clear conflict of interest arose when the SEC announced it would not consider meme coins as securities, a decision made weeks after President Trump launched his own $TRUMP token, thereby directly benefiting the president's financial interests. Further indicating a shift in approach, the SEC restructured its enforcement operations, replacing its specialized Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit with a new unit that signaled a more hands off stance on digital assets.

The Department of Justice also underwent a significant policy change by completely disbanding the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, a unit specifically created to combat complex crypto related crimes. A memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, titled "Ending Regulation By Prosecution," directed prosecutors to cease pursuing charges for regulatory infractions under federal banking, securities, and commodities laws unless there was proof of intentional violations. This effectively shifted policy away from enforcement based regulation, immunizing cryptocurrency companies from prosecution for certain regulatory violations even when significant investor harm occurred.

Unprecedented conflicts of interest emerged from the Trump family's extensive financial involvement in the cryptocurrency sector while simultaneously overseeing its regulation. For example, a cryptocurrency venture primarily owned by the Trump family, World Liberty Financial, saw its USD1 stablecoin selected for a $2 billion investment in Binance facilitated by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, directly linking a Trump family business to a major international financial transaction within the crypto space.

President Trump himself launched the $TRUMP meme coin shortly before his inauguration, which reached a significant market value. With the Trump Organization and affiliated companies reportedly controlling a substantial majority of the token's supply, concerns about market manipulation arose. The President used his platform to promote these tokens, even hosting private dinners for major token holders at his golf club, an event so beyond the pale it completely lacks any historical precedent in its sheer audacity and brazenness. The subsequent SEC announcement that meme coins would not be regulated as securities appeared to be a policy decision that directly benefited the president's personal financial interests.

Trump-affiliated entities have generated approximately 320 million dollars in trading fees from the TRUMP meme coin. These fees are collected through the coin's structure on decentralized exchanges, where CIC Digital LLC (a Trump Organization affiliate) and Fight Fight Fight LLC earn a share of trading fees on every coin exchange. In just the week following the dinner announcement in April, trading fees alone exceeded 1.3 million dollars. The profit model is particularly lucrative because it doesn't depend on the coin's price appreciation. what matters is constant trading volume, because more trades mean more fees.

Further highlighting these conflicts, Trump Media & Technology Group, in which President Trump holds a majority stake managed by his son, was reportedly in negotiations to raise $3 billion for cryptocurrency investments. This situation meant the president and his family could financially gain from these investments while simultaneously controlling the regulatory environment governing such activities.

Regulatory appointments also raised concerns about industry capture. David Sacks, appointed as Trump's "crypto and artificial intelligence czar," faced allegations that he could financially benefit from a strategic crypto reserve announcement made by Trump. Although Sacks claimed to have divested from personal crypto holdings, questions persisted regarding his venture capital firm Craft Ventures' investment in Bitwise, a crypto index fund manager. The firm only confirmed its exit from this investment after public scrutiny and after the presidential announcement had already benefited the assets in question.

Brian Quintenz, nominated by Trump to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, disclosed significant financial involvement in the cryptocurrency sector, reporting over $3.4 million in crypto-linked assets and extensive industry connections. His financial disclosures detailed stakes in Andreessen Horowitz funds, board positions at firms like Kalshi (a prediction markets operator), and prior advisory roles with companies such as Crypto dot com. Although Quintenz pledged to divest these holdings and recuse himself from matters where conflicts could arise, his nomination highlighted a trend of appointing individuals with direct financial interests in the industries they were tasked with regulating.

The Trump administration formalized its deregulatory stance through a January 23, 2025 executive order titled "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology." This order established a comprehensive framework for cryptocurrency deregulation and revoked previous Biden administration policies. It also created a working group, chaired by David Sacks, tasked with developing a regulatory framework that prioritized industry growth over investor protection. The executive order mandated federal agencies to review and rescind prior regulatory guidance, effectively institutionalizing the dismantling of cryptocurrency oversight and normalizing an approach where industry preferences could supersede regulatory prudence.

The operations of Trump family linked entities like World Liberty Financial, particularly its involvement in international crypto transactions such as its stablecoin being used in a multi-billion dollar deal involving Binance and an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, raised questions about the intertwining of private business interests with entities subject to U.S. regulatory scrutiny or foreign government influence.

Trump's family wealth has reportedly increased by $2.9 billion largely due to cryptocurrency investments, with 40% of that wealth currently held in tokens. This staggering enrichment, directly coinciding with policies designed to unleash the very crypto markets from which they profited, is not merely a footnote in financial history; it is a funeral dirge for democratic accountability and a grotesque caricature of public service. In a way, this is cryptocurrency fulfilling its ultimate purpose — serving as the perfect vehicle for corruption and fraud.

The sheer, unadulterated brazenness of this spectacle, where the highest public office in the land is so transparently leveraged for personal, familial gain, makes the Teapot Dome scandal (the previous largest scandal in American history) look like a petty squabble and the influence peddling of past eras seem almost amateurish by comparison. We are staring into the abyss of a new American kleptocracy, where the lines between the presidency and a personal enrichment scheme have been purposefully, profitably, and catastrophically erased. This is truly a full-throated embrace of oligarchy that threatens to dwarf the Gilded Age robber barrons, The only historical precedent is the plundering of the state much like what occured during the collapse of the USSR. We are witnessing the forging an era of unprecedented wealth inequality and systemic rot that may leave the very foundations of American democracy shattered beyond recognition. It's truly hard to find the words to describe this grotesque spectacle, but I will continue documenting it in hopes to add to the public record and contextualize this new low in American history.