Trump’s new venture, World Liberty Financial, is already stirring controversy less than a month since its launch. Positioned as the family’s foray back to the crypto world, the initiative’s announcement came during a live-streamed event last month, where both of Trump’s older sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, were present. Surprisingly, their younger brother Barron was absent, even though promotional material touted him as the venture’s ‘visionary’. It’s intriguing, to say the least, how the youngest Trump has been thrust under the spotlight of this venture aiming to navigate the tumultuous cryptocurrency waters.
Behind the scenes, it appears friends of Trump have been tightly involved with pushing for Barron to engage with this potentially lucrative yet risky digital currency market. One of those individuals, real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, lobbied heavily for the initiative, asserting it would offer Barron valuable business experience and protection from the multitude of scammers prevalent within the cryptocurrency industry.
Witkoff himself, not particularly known for his deep expertise in the crypto arena (he famously referred to ‘memecoins’ as ‘me-me-coins’), has taken aim at persuading Barron to step forward and take on this new opportunity. Partnering with crypto entrepreneurs Chase Herro and Zachary Folkman, the venture seeks to stake its claim amid the plethora of alternative currencies—which has garnered its fair share of skepticism from experts.
It's worth mentioning how Herro and Folkman’s backgrounds could raise eyebrows. Both have had their hands tied up with various e-commerce schemes and alternative investment projects, typically linked to questionable promises like getting rich overnight. A close examination of their previous work shows they have been known to jump between ventures, each time seemingly sharing the same pattern of temporally profitable but risky engagements.
The skepticism surrounding this initiative is palpable. Concerns don’t merely revolve around the operators’ backgrounds but also about the ethics of getting Barron involved. The New York Times noted Witkoff’s justification for this entrepreneurial exposure seems rather misplaced because of the inherent dangers associated with the crypto industry—fraudulent schemes and market instability are rampant.
Barron’s absence from the launch of World Liberty Financial, dubbed by Witkoff as ‘a way for him to learn about the business world’, raises questions about whether this is truly aimed at benefitting the young Trump or if it’s more about promoting the venture itself.
Witkoff’s lofty vision for protecting his friend’s son stands at odds with the grim realities brought up by various reports on Herro’s past. His history doesn’t paint the picture of reliability: facing criminal allegations for theft, involvement with shady investment schemes, and connections to parties whose integrity could be called to question. To add to this complexity, one of his former relationships reportedly ended due to problematic behaviors, and he missed pivotal life events under questionable circumstances.
The partners' previous attempt with Dough Finance also ended with disaster, as the platform fell victim to hackers who stole nearly $2 million from unsuspecting users. Overall, this growing profile does little to assure observers about World Liberty Financial’s viability.
Additional scrutiny on the venture has revealed little about unique offerings or credible advancements compared to other projects within the crypto space. John Reed Stark, former SEC official, publicly critiqued the project, labeling it as ‘nonsense’ and cautioning potential investors about the myriad risks entailed.
While the announcement seemingly has made headlines, the ways this family venture might perform—or potentially serve to shield Barron from harm—remain to be seen. Whether this is merely another chapter of the family’s pervasive influence or if it will turn out to be truly educational for Barron might someday clarify what’s truly behind this ambitious but contentious crypto undertaking.
