From the existing public information, Trump's way of making money through cryptocurrency may not be legally constituted as illegal, but there are significant ethical, conflict of interest, and political corruption concerns.

First, Trump's family making money through cryptocurrency projects is not inherently illegal.

The President of the United States can retain personal assets and can hold business interests through a trust. This includes cryptocurrency.

Second, ordinary federal officials who participate in government matters that impact their financial interests may trigger the criminal conflict of interest rule under 18 U.S.C. §208.

The OGE's interpretation of this rule is that government employees cannot personally and substantially participate in official matters in which they have a financial interest. However, the President and Vice President are somewhat special, and the CRS clearly states in the interpretation of administrative conflict of interest rules that 18 U.S.C. §208 does not apply to the President and Vice President.

This is the most critical point.

There is a significant legal gray area for the President. Therefore, while Trump promotes stablecoin regulation and cryptocurrency policy, his family's projects profit from stablecoins, meme coins, and World Liberty. Though this may seem like a conflict of interest to ordinary people, the OGE's rules do not indicate a conflict. It can only be said that Trump is a very shrewd businessman who knows how to find loopholes. But it is not illegal.

Third, there may be legal issues.

If foreign governments, foreign sovereign funds, or royal background capital directly or indirectly purchase Trump-related cryptocurrency assets or project equity, or provide benefits to Trump’s family projects, it could run into the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Constitution states that any person holding public office in the United States cannot accept gifts, rewards, positions, or titles from foreign monarchs, princes, or foreign countries without the consent of Congress.

Therefore, projects like World Liberty, USD1, and TRUMP are not necessarily illegal, but if the buyers include foreign government capital, or if the transaction prices are clearly not at normal commercial rates, then legal risks may arise.

Fourth, there are risks related to securities law and investor protection.

World Liberty has disclosed on its website and materials that the Trump family will take most of the revenue from token sales, and there are disclaimers stating that the tokens are not investments and that buyers should not expect to make profits, with similar warnings on the TRUMP meme coin website.

However, if investors can prove that the project engaged in misleading marketing, concealed beneficial arrangements, manipulated the market, or made false statements, it could still trigger civil lawsuits or regulatory investigations. But so far, it cannot be directly inferred that the project is illegal simply because it is profitable.

Fifth, with stablecoins, we need to see if projects comply with regulatory requirements after the GENIUS Act.

The GENIUS Act established a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins and requires that entities issuing payment stablecoins in the U.S. must be approved issuers. Bank subsidiaries and federally qualified non-bank issuers are subject to corresponding regulation.

If USD1 or related stablecoin businesses comply with regulatory requirements, then the business itself may be legalized. However, if, after regulation is implemented, they lack compliance qualifications or structure transactions to circumvent regulation, new problems may arise.

Therefore, from a legal standpoint, it cannot be said that Trump's cryptocurrency income is illegal.

But politically and ethically, this situation is very troubling.

Especially when Trump says the U.S. should become the world's largest cryptocurrency country, the market hears favorable policies and regulatory loosening, project parties receive presidential endorsement, while Trump himself and family-related entities are profiting in the process, it becomes difficult to simply explain this as “ordinary business behavior.”

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