Trump family received approximately $540 million from token sales tied to AI Financial purchase
Just over a year ago, the Trump family’s crypto venture bought control of a small payments company for $750 million. The Nasdaq-listed company, then named Alt5 Sigma and later rebranded as AI Financial, is now in talks to sell its core payments business to blockchain technology firm Perpetuals.com for up to $15 million, according to a corporate filing and a person familiar with the transaction. The terms are not yet completed and could change, or the deal could fail to materialize, the person said.
World Liberty acquired a majority stake in AI Financial in August by paying with its own cryptocurrency, WLFI. AI Financial then raised $750 million from investors to buy more WLFI tokens. Those purchases saddled the company with a large cache of Trump-affiliated cryptocurrency that has since lost 70% of its value, much of it still subject to a lockup. AI Financial shares have fallen over 90%, reducing its market capitalization to about $80 million.
The Trump family is entitled to 75% of the proceeds from World Liberty’s sale of WLFI tokens, meaning AI Financial’s purchases funneled approximately $540 million in cash to the family. President Trump’s most recent financial disclosure identified $527 million in income from WLFI token sales, though the filing did not specify which sales those proceeds corresponded to. According to the Wall Street Journal, that disclosure led to complaints from Democrats that Trump was profiting from the presidency.
Spokespeople for World Liberty Financial and AI Financial declined to comment on the sale talks. Tokyo-based Perpetuals.com said Tuesday it had signed a nonbinding agreement to explore the purchase of the payments business.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said all of Trump’s assets are “held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions. There are no conflicts of interest.” She added, “The President has implemented policies that have made all Americans wealthier and more prosperous.”
A Trump entity called DT Marks DEFI, which the president owns 70%, holds a 38% stake in World Liberty. Trump’s three sons are co-founders, and Trump is listed as “Co-Founder Emeritus.” World Liberty CEO Zach Witkoff, the son of Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, became chairman of AI Financial at the time of the takeover. He told CNBC it was “an incredible company, with incredible technology.”
Despite those ambitions, no transactions using World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin have ever been processed on the payments platform, according to trading data on Alt5’s website.
Toward the end of last year, Alt5 Sigma announced the departure of its chief executive, acting chief executive, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, and a board member who chaired the audit committee. In April, the company rebranded as AI Financial and said it aimed to become a financial platform for automated payments. The following month, AI Financial flagged concerns about its viability, citing a $271 million quarterly loss from the decline in its WLFI holdings and mounting debts of $39 million. It said it had drawn down $15 million under a loan agreement with World Liberty.
The sale of AI Financial’s payments subsidiary would strip the company of its sole revenue-generating business, which earned $25 million last year. Under the potential deal, Perpetuals.com would pay $5 million upfront for the subsidiary in its own stock, with an additional $10 million contingent on revenue targets, according to the company documents. Perpetuals.com would also settle the payments arm’s loans.
Perpetuals.com, which holds licenses to offer crypto products in the European Union, also agreed to explore offering World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin to European investors and to license its trading engine to AI Financial, the documents show.