Trump’s Crypto Ventures Leave Investors $4.7 Billion Underwater While He Pockets $1.4 Billion
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump’s sprawling cryptocurrency ventures have left investors with at least an estimated $4.7 billion in losses, while Trump himself made at least $1.4 billion from crypto in 2025, according to a new report from Public Citizen.
The report, “‘Thin Air,’ Real Money,’” examines Trump’s growing portfolio of cryptocurrency ventures, including his digital trading cards, $WLFI governance token, $TRUMP memecoin, $USD1 stablecoin, and Trump Media’s digital asset treasury.
Together, the ventures have generated billions of dollars in losses for investors. The losses are largely unrealized and do not necessarily represent cash that investors have paid directly to Trump or his companies, although hundreds of millions of dollars in losses have been realized. In the case of $TRUMP memecoin, however, the decline in value reflects a massive transfer of wealth away from later investors to a small group who invested and bought early.
At the same time, Trump has personally profited enormously from his crypto ventures. According to his most recent financial disclosure, Trump made at least $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency-related ventures in 2025.
“Trump’s crypto grifts are among the clearest examples of how he has turned the presidency into a vehicle for personal enrichment,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen. “While Trump and his family pocket enormous sums of money, ordinary investors are stranded aboard a sinking ship. To make matters worse, millions of everyday Americans are forced to watch Trump’s net worth grow while their families struggle to make ends meet.”
The report finds that the Trump family’s crypto ventures have expanded drastically as federal oversight of the cryptocurrency industry remains limited and lawmakers have failed to establish safeguards against conflicts of interest, market manipulation, and exploitation of investors.
“Trump’s crypto ventures have been extraordinarily lucrative for himself and his family, and extraordinarily risky for investors,” said Zach Everson, Public Citizen research director. “Trump made at least $1.4 billion from crypto in 2025, while investors are now sitting with over $4 billion in losses. This illustrates the enormous decline in value suffered by investors who trusted him and simultaneously a transfer of wealth from those smaller buyers to the Trump family and others with early access. The result of this pattern over and over again is a crypto empire in which the president has captured substantial gains while relying on investors to absorb the downside.”
Trump’s crypto empire also demonstrates the dangers of allowing public officials to maintain financial interests in industries that are subject to federal policy decisions. The absence of meaningful legislation has allowed Trump and his family to participate directly in markets that his administration has the power to regulate.
‘Thin Air’, Real Money is available to read here.