 ▲ Donald Trump, WLFI/ChatGPT-generated image |
U.S. President Donald Trump, who once branded himself the “crypto president,” is facing growing backlash from investors as he appears to be focusing more on personal wealth accumulation through virtual assets rather than fulfilling his campaign promises.
In a video released on February 22 (local time) on his YouTube channel, cryptocurrency analyst Lark Davis criticized the stark gap between Trump’s campaign pledges related to digital assets and his actual actions. Davis pointed out that the strategic Bitcoin reserve plan, which promised the purchase of one million Bitcoin (BTC), has effectively been diluted. “At this point, it has been reduced to merely holding seized assets,” he said. Instead of pursuing aggressive national-level acquisitions, the administration appears to be maintaining the status quo, undermining the vision of building the United States into a global crypto superpower.
While the stablecoin regulation bill known as GENIUS has positive aspects in enhancing industry transparency, it also carries an underlying strategic intent to channel funds into U.S. Treasury purchases to address national debt. In particular, the Trump family’s stablecoin, USD1, has benefited from the legislation, establishing a business model that generates approximately $100 million in annual revenue. Davis expressed concern that cryptocurrency policy has devolved into a means of enriching the president’s family rather than serving the public interest.
The Trump family has reportedly earned around $82 million through memecoins and NFTs—roughly 12 times more than their income from real estate or golf businesses. Meanwhile, individual investors have suffered an estimated $4.3 billion in losses from Trump-related digital assets, creating what critics describe as an exploitative structure in which retail investors lose $20 for every $1 earned by insiders. In particular, the DeFi project World Liberty Financial has failed to deliver tangible benefits to investors while fueling suspicions of political favoritism.
On a more positive note, the increasing likelihood of the U.S. crypto market structure bill, known as CLARITY, being passed signals the end of the regulatory war and the establishment of a clearer institutional framework. President Trump has indicated his willingness to sign the bill, which could enhance liquidity and certainty in the digital asset market. However, delays in fulfilling key promises—such as the pledge to remove Gary Gensler—continue to fuel distrust toward the administration.
Although it is encouraging that the United States remains a leader in digital asset capital markets under the Trump administration, criticism over alleged personal profiteering remains unavoidable. Investors are closely monitoring future policy directions, wary of what they perceive as a profit-concentrating structure benefiting those in power behind the façade of institutional progress. Davis emphasized that cryptocurrency must move beyond serving as a financial vault for a specific family and reclaim its original innovative value.
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