Trump family amasses $5 billion fortune after cryptocurrency launch

The trading debut was most likely the biggest financial success for the Trump family since the inauguration

- Angus Berwick

The Trump family notched as much as $5 billion in paper wealth on Monday after its flagship crypto venture opened trading of a new digital currency.

The launch is akin to an initial public offering, in which the cryptocurrency, called WLFI, can now be bought and sold on the open market like a listed company's shares.

Beforehand, people who had privately bought WLFI from the Trump venture, World Liberty Financial, hadn't been able to exchange their tokens.

The trading debut was most likely the biggest financial success for the president's family since the inauguration.

The Trump family, including President Trump himself, holds just under a quarter of all WLFI tokens in existence.

Trump's three sons are co-founders of World Liberty, while it names the president a "Co-Founder Emeritus."

World Liberty says founders and team members' tokens remain "locked," meaning they still can't sell them.

But the trading launch now puts a real-world valuation on their holdings, which previously were valued based on private sales.

WLFI is likely now the Trumps' most valuable asset, exceeding their decades-old property portfolio.

While the president's family has continued to pursue property deals around the world since taking office, the fast-moving crypto business has had the biggest early impact.

President Trump helped launch World Liberty a year ago, while campaigning, saying it would help make "America Great Again," this time with crypto.