One generation runs the country

The next one, newly fluent in crypto, is getting rich fast, The Wall Street Journal reported.

As senior figures took the reins in Washington, their sons built digital-asset ventures that threw off cash at a pace old-line businesses never matched. The clearest example is World Liberty Financial, a crypto outfit launched during Donald Trump’s time out of office and turbocharged after his return. Led by Zach Witkoff, the son of presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, the firm has paid out at least $1.4 billion to the Trump and Witkoff families since the election, according to disclosures reviewed by the Journal.

The money arrived quickly. World Liberty sold governance tokens that routed most proceeds directly to its founders, then struck a quiet deal to sell nearly half the company to investors tied to an Abu Dhabi royal. It later pivoted to a dollar-pegged stablecoin, a business that earns steady interest on Treasury holdings and, with help from partners including Binance, scaled rapidly.

The pattern repeats across the administration’s orbit. Eric Trump fronts a bitcoin mining company valued at more than $1 billion at launch. Don Jr. and Barron Trump co-founded World Liberty alongside Witkoff. Brandon Lutnick, son of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, now runs Cantor Fitzgerald, which has emerged as a go-to bank for crypto deals. All were crypto novices a few years ago; all raised billions before the market cooled, limiting their exposure compared with retail investors.

The optics are stark. The elder generation insists the businesses operate independently and denies conflicts of interest. Company spokespeople say politics played no role and that the ventures aim to strengthen the dollar and the broader economy. Yet the contrast is hard to miss: decades to earn similar sums in real estate, months to do it in crypto.

As Washington sets policy, its offspring have mastered a faster game. Power stayed with the parents. The windfall flowed to the kids, the Journal reported.