Trump loses favor with crypto fans who call him out for cashing in

Carl Runefelt, a cryptocurrencies-focused streamer known as "the Moon," has 2.2 million followers on TikTok but doesn't follow politics, so he was excited the first time he heard a major politician talk about bitcoin on the world stage. He bought some extra bitcoin to celebrate the first pro-crypto U.S. president and also bought a little of the president's own token.

Now the value of those $TRUMP coins has crashed, the U.S. crypto reserve President Donald Trump promised hasn't amounted to much, and the enthusiasm for Trump in comments and message boards has turned into disappointment and animosity.

"Trump was the hero in crypto, like, a couple of years ago, and now it's like the exact opposite," Runefelt said in an interview. "Crypto already has a branding of 'it's just a bunch of scams and scammers,' and this didn't help because now even the top guy did the same thing that people hate."

Across Trump's 11-year political career, his image as a savvy businessman insulated him from charges of corruption and self-dealing. Even moves such as paying no federal income taxes in some years and using government funds to pay his own businesses, which historically might have sunk other politicians, left Trump's image intact in the eyes of supporters, who saw them as proof of his shrewd dealmaking.

Now, as dissatisfaction grows with Trump's economic performance, questions about how he and his family profit from the presidency have taken on more bite. Some of the loudest complaints are coming from young, male crypto enthusiasts who were initially energized by candidate Trump's embrace of the industry -- and now are better equipped than the average voter to understand the ventures that earned the president $1.4 billion last year.

Trump remains popular with major crypto industry figures, and crypto companies such as Crypto.com parent Foris Dax and Gemini Trust Company, the crypto exchange owned by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, are among the largest donors to his MAGA Inc. super PAC.

"The crypto industry was in shambles under the Biden administration, which consistently undermined America's lead in technology and innovation," White House spokesman Davis Ingle said. "President Trump has been clear: Innovators and leaders in crypto and other industries of the future have a seat at the table in his administration, and we continue to work with this industry to advance American interests and prosperity."

Among many of the young crypto bros who flocked to Trump's side in the 2024 campaign, however, the disillusionment is clear.

"What they basically did was a money grab," said David from South Carolina, a participant in a focus group of independent and moderate 18-to-24-year-olds conducted this year for the Bulwark's Focus Group podcast. "Why does he need to keep doing it? He's literally a billionaire. Like, how much more money does he need?" The Washington Post is identifying participants in the focus group only by their first names in accordance with the ground rules for the session.

Six out of nine of the young men on that panel said they had heard of Trump's memecoin. In another focus group, all eight had. The participants referenced a meme of a "Trump" playing card that cuts your portfolio by half and a viral, unverified story about a young man who lost his inheritance by betting on the Trump coin.

A participant named Cole from New Jersey called the memecoin a "cash grab" for Trump to "prey" on his younger followers.

"He's a grifter," he said. "Many things can be said about Donald Trump, but he knows how to make money. Not necessarily in an honest way."

Trump won 43 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds in 2024, according to exit polls. Last month, his approval rating with voters under 30 dropped to 19 percent in a Fox News poll, which found 63 percent saying they would vote for a Democrat for Congress.

During the campaign, Trump took several steps to build support among crypto fans. He reversed his earlier skepticism of cryptocurrency to raise money at a crypto conference and pledged to make the United States the "crypto capital of the world." He also promised a government crypto "czar" and a digital asset stockpile.

Crypto investors (especially those living outside the U.S. who aren't involved in other aspects of partisan American politics) have praised Trump for installing friendly regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and for signing a law called the Genius Act establishing rules for stablecoins, which are cryptocoins pegged to U.S. dollars.

"The crypto industry has been beaten for years by Biden and what happened during those four years," said Vincent Deriu, a New York-based investor in $TRUMP tokens who goes by the nickname Vinman. "The FUD that we hear -- which is, for context, fear, uncertainty and doubt -- is from people who don't like the guy or don't understand the project."

Another major cryptocurrency regulation bill, known as the Clarity Act, failed in the Senate in September. Democrats objected to ethics provisions that would have protected Trump's and his family's crypto businesses. The White House offered compromise language, but Democrats and ethics experts argued they were too easy to work around and too hard to enforce.

The cryptocurrency reserve, established in March 2025, ended up comprising assets that the Treasury Department already had seized in criminal or civil forfeiture proceedings, rather than fresh purchases that would have pushed up prices, which traders had hoped for.

Bitcoin hit a record high in October 2025 but didn't surge as much as in previous peaks. Stocks have performed better since Trump returned to office. A collapse in bitcoin prices in February prompted a flurry of online comments bashing Trump.

"We all thought he would pump our books a lot more than he did," said Morten Christensen, a crypto investor who traded Trump's tokens. "His reputation in crypto is not as good as it was when he was running for president."

Christensen owned enough Trump tokens to earn an invitation to exclusive "club" events at Trump's properties. Christensen, who is Dutch and lives in Mexico, doesn't participate in U.S. politics but thought the first event, at Trump's Virginia golf course in May 2025, would make for a fun "boys' weekend." He said he got a positive reception on social media -- but when he attended a second event, in April at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, the online comments turned overwhelmingly hostile.

"I definitely saw a big shift," he said.

Another attendee at the May 2025 gathering, a car enthusiast named Nick Pinto who has more than 2 million followers on Instagram, was disappointed that the event featured only a brief appearance by Trump and no opportunity to interact with him.

"I always supported Trump, and he promised that he would be the crypto president," Pinto said. "I was under the impression that would be for bitcoin -- I never thought he would launch his own token."

"The whole thing is a rug pull," he added, using crypto slang for a scheme where someone creates a token, hypes it up and then cashes out.

In addition to his memecoins, Trump also owns a stake, the exact size of which is undisclosed, in World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture set up by his sons alongside the sons of Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff. The company offers stablecoins, marketing itself as a way around conventional banking.

World Liberty Financial remains a minor player in a market dominated by two major incumbents. The company's stablecoin has a market value of $4.4 billion, compared with $189 billion for Tether, the market leader, according to data from blockchain analytics company Nansen.

"From the crypto community's perspective, most people don't really think about it that much," Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik said.

Still, the business can generate significant cash flow. The company backs the stablecoins with Treasury bonds and keeps the interest the bonds generate. Trump's 2025 financial disclosure reported at least $500 million in proceeds from token sales related to World Liberty Financial, as well as $65 million in proceeds from equity sales.

The company stirred controversy when it sold a $500 million stake to Emirati investors including Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the country's national security adviser and a member of the royal family. Democrats called the deal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, corrupt.

Another major investor was Justin Sun, a prominent crypto figure who founded the Tron blockchain platform. Sun, who is based in Hong Kong, sued the company in federal court in California, alleging the company blocked him from redeeming his investment. World Liberty Financial then sued Sun in Florida, accusing him of defaming the company.

Both cases are still pending. Sun declined to comment through a spokeswoman. World Liberty Financial did not respond to requests for comment.

Sun's lawsuit stressed that he still supports Trump personally. But in taking on the Trump family company, Sun argues his cause is bigger than himself -- echoing how Trump defended himself from prosecution during the 2024 campaign.

"If World Liberty can do this to me -- a billionaire who can afford to fight back," he told New York Magazine, "they can do it to anyone."