US President Donald Trump’s family appears to have cut its stake in World Liberty Financial by a big margin in recent weeks. Shares once held under DT Marks DeFi LLC dropped from 75% at the end of 2024 to about 40% today. That shift has caught the eye of investors watching the DeFi space.
Rapid Stake Decline Raises Questions
According to a Forbes report, the Trump family’s vehicle went from holding 75% of WLFI to roughly 60% by January 24, 2025, and then down to 40% within the past 11 days.
Those are big moves. Share percentages on a website don’t always track with legal filings. Yet a change of 35 percentage points in under six months would be hard to miss on any balance sheet.
President Trump and his sons Barron, Don Jr., and Eric launched World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm that’s pulled in over $500 million. Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Pool/Getty Images.
Trading Boost Before Inauguration
Based on reports from the WLFI site, token sales for their USD1 stablecoin spiked before January 20. The project sold over $200 million worth of tokens in just 29 hours right before the inauguration. That kind of volume can drive up both interest and price. It also offers a convenient window for anyone holding a large stake to take some chips off the table.
Big Money Figures
Revenue numbers for 2024 show that DT Marks DeFi LLC pulled in $57 million from token sales alone. If WLFI’s valuation matches that of Circle at its IPO, Forbes suggests the Trumps may have turned roughly $190 million in paper value into real cash, with about $135 million flowing to US President Donald Trump himself. That’s about 70% of the total haul, by their estimate.
Image: Protos
WLFI’s stablecoin didn’t float along on hype alone. An Abu Dhabi‑backed firm put $2 billion into the USD1 token shortly after its launch. Big government‑linked money tends to draw more attention and more buyers. It also raises questions about how a sitting president and his family balance public duties with deep ties to a foreign‑backed financial venture.
Regulatory Spotlight On DeFi Ties
Cryptocurrency firms often push for looser rules. When the head of state profits from those ventures, regulators may take a closer look. There’s no sign of an official inquiry yet. However, conflict‑of‑interest concerns could surface if White House insiders are still involved when those shares change hands.
Investors are now watching the WLFI website and waiting for formal SEC filings or public disclosures. A clear picture of who owns what will help everyone understand whether these stake cuts are part of a planned exit, a strategic shift, or simply an online typo. Markets hate uncertainty. More clarity could send WLFI tokens higher—or prompt a fresh sell‑off.
Featured image from David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images, chart from TradingView
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