A little over a year ago, I stood in a gilded ballroom in Washington, DC, during inauguration weekend, surrounded by the blockchain industry’s top executives and investors. They had swapped their hoodies for tuxedos and dresses, celebrating the rise of the first “crypto president,” Donald Trump, who embraced the once-renegade sector on the campaign trail. But in the middle of the night, rumors began spreading through the crowd that Trump, who was not in attendance, had launched his own memecoin. Toward the end of a Snoop Dogg DJ set, the Trump coin had surpassed $1 billion.
Some of the more astute members of the audience immediately clocked what was happening. Trump, who made a career brandishing everything from casinos to steakhouses to unaccredited colleges, was doing the same with crypto. Would Trump’s latest business venture go the way of Trump Tower or Trump University?
As we quickly discovered, the quality of the Trump family’s crypto efforts was almost a red herring (even though we’ve covered it closely, including in my colleague Ben Weiss’s terrific new feature on US Bitcoin). Instead, ethics watchdogs argued that Trump used his blockchain activities as a way to sell access. But unlike concerns during his first term that foreign dignitaries could book rooms at Trump hotels, which taught the term “emoluments” to millions of Americans, now anyone with an internet connection could actually transfer millions of dollars to Trump by creating a digital wallet and reap the rewards. Its major memecoin holders enjoyed a private audience with the president last May, although not all of them were happy with the food they were served.
In hindsight, these ethical concerns also seem outdated. Saturday evening, the Wall Street Journal has released an explosive report that two lieutenants of a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family signed a contract to inject $500 million into World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto platform, in exchange for a 49% stake, just days before his inauguration. Like the Newspaper Put simply, this was something unprecedented in American politics: “A foreign government official taking a major stake in the company of a new American president.” » And a few months later, the Trump administration granted the UAE access to advanced US chips despite widespread security concerns (although a World Liberty spokesperson said Fortune that the deal had nothing to do with the administration’s actions on the chips).
As the shockwaves of the scandal reverberate, a tricky question lingers: Is Trump bad for blockchain? The industry spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the 2024 election, which culminated in the coronation of Trump, who championed digital asset regulation, held summits and appointed czars. But now the landmark clarity bill is stalled in the Senate as Democrats call for ethics provisions that would prohibit the president from profiting from crypto holdings, and this wave of opposition will only grow. And despite Trump’s encouragement, Bitcoin prices are near their lowest level in a year, and many retail traders are staying away.
For many Americans, crypto is now inextricably linked to the Trump family. Be careful what you wish for.
Merger madness… SpaceX has completed the acquisition of xAI, two long-rumored companies from Elon Musk, in a stunning deal that could set the joint venture up for one of the largest IPOs in history in terms of market value. This comes a few months after xAI acquired X, another Musk company, in a $33 billion all-stock deal, and a month after Tesla revealed it had invested $2 billion in xAI. According to a Bloomberg report, the new deal will result in a combined enterprise value of $1.25 trillion. You can read everything here.
Leo Schwartz
X: @leomschwartz
E-mail: leo.schwartz@fortune.com
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ADVENTURE OFFERS
– Shield Technology Partnersa Tampa, Florida-based IT services platform raised $100 million from Prosper assets.
– BiorceA Barcelona, Spain-based company that uses AI to change the way clinical trials are designed and conducted has raised $52 million in Series A funding from summer time Global Partners, Mustard seed mazeand existing investors Norrsken Venture capital And YZR Capital.
– Daytime AIan AI-powered customer relationship management platform based in Boston, Massachusetts, has raised $20 million in Series A funding. Sequoia Capital led the tour and was joined by Sound companies, Permanent capital, ConvictionAnd Holm oaks.
– LinqA Birmingham, Alabama-based platform designed to enable iMessage AI agents to text and call users has raised $20 million in Series A funding. QT Businesses led the round and was joined by angel investors.
– Socketa Santa Monica, Calif.-based electric vehicle marketplace raised $20 million in Series A funding. Speed of light led the tour and was joined by Galvanize and existing investors.
– GoCabAn Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based company that provides industry workers with credit to buy vehicles and incentivizes them to work toward ownership has raised $15 million in funding. E3 Capital And JANNO Capital led the tour and were joined by KawiSafi Businesses And Court8 Capital.
– Incarda London, UK-based financial platform designed for e-commerce operations has raised £10 million ($13.7 million) in Series A funding. Smart ending led the tour and was joined by Founders Capital, Mounting fundsand angel investors.
– Looped AIa San Francisco-based agentic AI platform designed for marketing, finance, and operations teams in the restaurant and retail industries, has raised $14 million in Series A funding. NYC Partners led the tour and was joined by Gokul Rajaram, Base10, Before Capital, Converge, Former students Businessesand others.
– Idema Berkeley, Calif.-based AI-powered appointment scheduler aimed at college students has raised $9.2 million in seed funding. Culminate XV Partners led the tour and was joined by Slope, scribble Businesses, Former students BusinessesAnd Lama Businesses.
– Arbora New York-based AI research platform for enterprise operations, raised $6.3 million in seed and pre-seed rounds. 645 Businesses led the tour and was joined by Following Play Businesses, Chaac Businesses, Comma Capitaland angel investors.
– Superelemental Recoverya critical mineral recovery and refining company based in Austin, Texas, raised $2 million. Crucible Capital led the round and was joined by Utah Seed funds, Climate Capital, Coat rack BusinessesAnd Bench Protection Trust.
PRIVATE-HORSE RIDING
– Vision Innovative Partnerssupported by Gryphon Investorsacquired Alexandria Ophthalmic Associatesan ophthalmology practice based in Alexandria, Virginia. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OUTPUTS
– G2 acquired Capterraa software discovery platform based in Arlington, Virginia, Software tipsa software discovery platform based in Austin, Texas, and Get an appa Stamford, Conn.-based software discovery platform from Gartner. Financial terms were not disclosed.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
– Builder Capitala Zurich, Switzerland-based venture capital firm has raised $110 million for its first fund focused on deep tech, software and edtech companies.
PEOPLE
– Bregal Mount Sagea private equity firm based in New York and Palo Alto, California, promoted Will Breskman to associate. Also, Harrison Brunelli And Steve Griffin were promoted to director.
– Capital Park BrightonNew York-based private equity firm hired Connie Heil as a partner. Previously she was with Arsenal Capital Partners.
– Everywhere Partnersa New York-based venture capital firm, hired Anna Hairdresser as general partner. She remains at M13 as a board partner
– Iron Spring Businessesan Austin, Texas-based venture capital firm hired Drew Kriens as main. Previously, he was a senior partner at Standard Investments.
