As many as 1 million retail wallets have suffered a combined loss of at least $4.7 billion across five Trump family crypto projects. A report by non-profit organization Public Citizen details that these losses stem from the TRUMP meme coin, the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) governance token, the USD1 stablecoin, Trump Digital Trading Cards, and Trump Media’s crypto treasury.
The largest losses originated from the TRUMP meme coin, which launched on January 17, 2025, three days before the presidential inauguration. The token reached an all-time high of $73.43 before crashing.
Public Citizen noted that 65% of the analyzed wallets are currently in the red, accounting for $3.2 billion of the losses. The distribution of profits was heavily skewed: the top 1% of wallets controlled $2.7 billion, or 80% of total profits. Those who entered within the first two days captured nearly 90% of the profits, leaving the burden to investors who arrived later.
Two companies affiliated with the project hold 80% of the total 1 billion TRUMP tokens scheduled to circulate over three years. These affiliated companies also collect fees from all retail trading activity.
Name Licensing, Not Investment
Rather than buying coins as an investor, Trump accumulated his wealth through licensing. His company, CIC Digital LLC, licensed the trademark name to token issuers and received $635 million from TRUMP throughout 2025.
Trump’s total crypto earnings in 2025 exceeded $1 billion, as documented in a June 2026 disclosure filing. Public Citizen calculated his actual revenue reached $1.4 billion from a combination of meme coin licensing, WLFI distributions, equity sales, and USD1. The US president also holds a Bitcoin cold wallet worth over $50 million, alongside a smaller Ethereum position that generated $1.8 million in staking rewards.
The price collapse also hit the WLFI project. Around 82% of the 31,000 retail wallets that bought it through Ethereum decentralized exchanges were underwater as of August 3. The token, which peaked at $0.3313 on September 1, 2025, was valued at just $0.05744 when the report was compiled - an 83% drop in value for top buyers. Total losses for wallets holding WLFI reached $54 million, surpassing the cumulative gains of profitable wallets, which capped out at $24 million.
The Trump NFT Trading Cards digital collection added another $9.3 million in losses. Trump Media investors also suffered around $450 million in losses from the company’s digital asset treasury. Out of the five projects, only the USD1 stablecoin avoided losses as it maintained its $1 peg without major deviations.
Calls for Divestment Under CLARITY Act
The report has fueled Public Citizen’s push to pass the CLARITY Act. The bill would require the sitting president and immediate family members to divest from all of their crypto projects.
The Senate has scheduled a cloture vote for the bill on September 15, requiring a minimum of 60 votes to advance to the final stage. Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly denied allegations of any conflict of interest regarding the series of projects.
Sourced from crypto.news.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
