--- title: "Trump’s New Crypto Project Is a Type Linked to Organized Crime and Terrorism" description: "So-called \"stablecoins\" are far from stable. But Donald Trump's sons have a new stablecoin-forward crypto venture — which Trump is backing." date: "2024-09-14" modified: "2024-09-14" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/trump-crypto-crime-terrorism" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "2024 election" - "crypto" - "donald trump" - "stablecoins" --- # Trump’s New Crypto Project Is a Type Linked to Organized Crime and Terrorism ![So-called "stablecoins" are far from stable. But Donald Trump's sons have a new stablecoin-forward crypto venture — which Trump is backing.]() *FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA - AUGUST 26: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Truong Tien Restaurant in the Eden Center on August 26, 2024 in Falls Church, Virginia. Trump visited the Vietnamese restaurant to greet supporters and spoke to journalists about the upcoming ABC presidential debate. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) \Image: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images\* The crypto lobby has been [pouring boatloads of cash]() into the latest presidential campaign of former president Donald Trump, who has [entirely abandoned]() his once-hardline stance against digital currencies as the campaign money has rolled in. Now, on the back of recent[ promises]() to make America the "crypto capital of the world," Trump is prepping to publicly roll out a wildly dubious and ethically fraught new crypto project started by none other than his sons Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. The project is called World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and it centers on "stablecoins," or coins that creators claim are pegged to stable commodities or government currencies. In an X-formerly-Twitter thread posted last week, the WLFI team claimed their stablecoin would be pegged to the US dollar. "For too long, the average American has been squeezed by the big banks and financial elites," Trump, a [financial elite whose penthouse is caked in gold](), said in a [Thursday X-formerly-Twitter video]() promoting the forthcoming crypto venture. "It's time we take a stand — together." But while stablecoins *sound* like they should be stable, they've historically been disastrous for investors and economies. The [collapse]() of the so-called stablecoin Terra-Luna was central to the 2022 crypto crash that wiped [nearly $2 trillion]() from the market, resulting not only in the catastrophic fall of billion-dollar crypto ventures like [FTX]() but in people's [entire life savings]() vanishing into thin air. What's more, [as *The Wall Street Journal* reported last year,]() stablecoins are also a favorite financing tool of organized crime and terror groups, who use the sleazy digital currencies to launder cash, traffic drugs, and [even buy and sell humans](). And on top of all that, there are too many conflicts of interest to count. If elected, Trump has already [promised]() to slash crypto regulations and bring digital currency into the mainstream American economic fold. WLFI would capitalize on those pro-crypto regulatory shifts, thus putting a sitting president in the position of supporting a possibly lucrative family business through the powers of the federal government. And like Trump's Truth Social meme stock, WLFI would also offer [obvious new inroads]() to currying Trump family favor, as wealthy operators looking to suck up could simply pour investments into the Trump sons' stablecoins. Some of the non-Trump family characters reportedly involved in the project are too seedy to even make up. As [*Bloomberg News* reports](), a key WLFI "dealmaker" is a person named Chase Herro, a former colon cleanse salesman who stated in a [2018 YouTube video]() — while driving around in a Rolls-Royce — that "you can literally sell shit in a can, wrapped in piss, covered in human skin, for a billion dollars if the story's right, because people will buy it." "I'm not going to question the right and wrong of all that," Herro added. Clearly the kind of guy you'd want to be entangled in the American economy. WLFI defended its stablecoin effort in an [X post]() this month as a means of ensuring the "dominance" of the US dollar and maintaining America's financial leadership on the international stage. In the same thread, the company [claimed]() without evidence that the US dollar is actively under attack by unnamed "foreign-nation states." But economic [experts]() [overwhelmingly agree]() that fearmongering claims around the allegedly imminent downfall of the American dollar are exaggerated and that knocking the US dollar out of its top spot would likely take decades. Through one lens, Trump's very public backing for WLFI is just the latest example of the former president using his campaign to promote a personal or family business. In addition to standard campaign merch, he's selling less-conventional golden [sneakers]() for nearly $500, as well as a $299 pair of "Trump Crypto President" low-tops in the shade "Bitcoin Orange"; [$99 NFTs]() of himself; a $59.99 "patriotic" take [on the Bible](); and a recently-published [coffee table book]() in which he threatens to jail Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which is available for $99 (though you can get a signed version for $499.) But the implications of WLFI are far more serious than expensive Bibles and random junk. In addition to being used to fund illicit activities around the world, stablecoins have proven to be anything but stable. Coupled with the clear risk of corruption that the Trump family's involvement in the crypto world would pose should the former president retake the Oval Office, and everything about WLFI's scheme is as dangerous as it is bankrupt. **More on Trump and crypto:** [*After Calling Crypto a "Scam," Donald Trump Now Owns Millions in Crypto*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()