Trump Crypto Profits Top $1B as CME Hits Record Institutional Volumes

Trump Family Crypto Empire Generates Over $1 Billion in Profit Amid Token and Stablecoin Boom

A Financial Times investigation reveals that Donald Trump’s wealth has surged during his second presidential term, fueled by a rapidly expanding crypto empire run by the president and his family. Their ventures have produced over $1 billion in pre-tax profit in the past year, with Eric Trump suggesting the actual figure is even higher.

The centerpiece is World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto firm founded by Trump’s sons and close allies. Identified on its website as “co-founder emeritus,” Trump earned $57.4 million from WLFI in June alone. Following a token unlock, the family’s stake in WLFI jumped to $5 billion, with total earnings of about $550 million attributed to the project this year. WLFI’s stablecoin, USD1, has also taken off, generating $42 million for the family and reaching the fifth-largest global stablecoin by market cap at $2.68 billion.

The Trumps have also earned hundreds of millions from their memecoins. The Official Trump (TRUMP) token brought in $362 million, while the Official Melania Meme (MELANIA) netted $65 million, despite both coins having crashed over 90–99% from their peaks.

Beyond these ventures, Trump’s personal stake in Trump Media & Technology Group — parent of Truth Social and a Bitcoin treasury operation — is now valued around $1.9 billion. Related projects tied to the family are expanding into treasury operations, with efforts underway to raise hundreds of millions to support token buybacks and digital asset reserves. Additionally, Erebor, a Peter Thiel–backed bank with ties to Trump, has received preliminary approval to serve crypto, AI and tech startups.

Bitfarms Seeks $300 Million via Convertible Notes as It Shifts to U.S. and Expands AI, Mining Footprint

Bitfarms Ltd. (BITF), a Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company, is raising $300 million through an unsecured offering of convertible notes due in 2031. The notes can convert into cash, common shares, or a mix of both at the company’s discretion, with semi-annual interest payments beginning in July 2026.

The company plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including capped call transactions to limit dilution. Bitfarms is working on private agreements with certain investors to cap dilution at roughly a 125% premium to the current share price.

BITF closed Wednesday up nearly 10% at $6.46 but dropped 4.5% after hours following the announcement. The move comes amid a broader trend of bitcoin miners using convertible debt structures to secure low-cost financing for capital-intensive initiatives such as AI and HPC infrastructure, bitcoin accumulation, and share buybacks.

In recent weeks, Cipher Mining raised $1.1 billion through an upsized convertible note sale, while TeraWulf is pursuing $3 billion in debt financing backed by Google.

Bitfarms also appointed Jonathan Mir, a veteran energy banker and advisor, as its new CFO and is preparing to relocate its corporate domicile to the U.S. amid rising revenues and strong policy backing from President Trump. Earlier this year, the firm completed a buyback of 10% of its public float.

Institutional Demand Drives Record Q3 Crypto Volumes, Ether, Solana, and XRP Hit Milestones

The third quarter of 2025 marked unprecedented growth and institutional participation in the crypto market. CME Group’s Crypto product suite saw combined futures and options volume surpass $900 billion, with average daily open interest reaching a record $31.3 billion. The week of September 16 recorded 1,014 large open interest holders, reflecting broader market engagement.

Ether led the surge, with daily volume hitting 543.9K contracts ($13.1B) on August 22 and average daily open interest in September reaching 203K contracts ($8.7B). Ether options set an ADOI record of $1.2B, up 37% from the prior month. Solana and XRP also achieved new milestones: SOL futures notional value reached $34B with OI surpassing $2.1B, while XRP futures traded over $23.7B with OI of $1.4B.

Spot-quoted Bitcoin (QBTC) and Ether (QETH) futures gained traction, trading 400K contracts totaling over $380M, providing efficient exposure to underlying assets. CME also expanded its crypto suite with U.S.-approved options on SOL and XRP futures, enabling precise risk management.

In response to client demand, CME plans to launch 24/7 trading for crypto futures and options in early 2026, aligning regulated derivatives with the continuously operating digital asset markets.

DeFi Development Corp Adds $16M in Solana, Now Holds Over $426M in SOL Treasury

DeFi Development Corp. (DFDV), a Solana-focused treasury and staking firm listed on Nasdaq, has acquired an additional 86,307 SOL worth $16 million. The purchase boosts its total Solana holdings by nearly 5%, bringing the firm’s treasury to more than 2 million SOL valued at approximately $426 million.

The latest tranche was bought at an average price of $110.91 per token. Due to an increase in outstanding shares — now around 28 million — the company’s “SOL per Share” metric has declined to $14.67, down from $19.44 in September when 25 million shares were in circulation.

Founded earlier this year by former Kraken employees, DeFi Development Corp’s strategy centers on buying and staking SOL and related Solana ecosystem tokens, such as Dogwifhat. The firm also provides validator services, including for Kraken.

With more than 2 million tokens, DeFi Development is among the five largest public holders of Solana. Forward Industries (FORD), backed by Galaxy, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital, remains the largest, holding nearly 7 million SOL — more than the next three treasuries combined.

Ripple Buys GTreasury for $1 Billion to Enter Multi-Trillion-Dollar Corporate Treasury Market

Ripple has acquired GTreasury, a global leader in treasury management systems, in a $1 billion deal that expands Ripple directly into the multi-trillion-dollar corporate treasury sector. GTreasury, which has been operating for more than 40 years, serves some of the world’s largest corporations and brings deep expertise in cash management, FX, compliance, and risk control.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the acquisition addresses long-standing issues in legacy payment systems, enabling faster, cheaper, and more flexible capital movement using blockchain infrastructure. By integrating GTreasury’s capabilities, Ripple aims to provide treasurers and CFOs with real-time tools for managing stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and other digital assets at scale.

Key strategic goals of the acquisition include:

• Unlocking idle capital through access to the global repo market via Hidden Road.
• Real-time 24/7 cross-border payments using Ripple’s existing blockchain-based infrastructure.

GTreasury CEO Renaat Ver Eecke said the merger shifts the company’s mission from “managing capital to activating it,” combining GTreasury’s risk management and compliance platform with Ripple’s global digital asset network.

This marks Ripple’s third major acquisition in 2025, following its purchases of prime broker Hidden Road and stablecoin platform Rail, further cementing its position in institutional liquidity and digital asset infrastructure. The deal is expected to close pending regulatory approval.