Sources confirm that a web of shell companies and offshore trusts has been traced to the Trump family, through which over $1 billion in cryptocurrency has flowed since 2021. The transactions, flagged by multiple blockchain intelligence firms, reveal a regulatory black hole that threatens to undermine British financial oversight.
Documents seen by this publication show that at least seven entities, registered in Delaware and the Cayman Islands, channelled funds into digital wallets linked to Trump-linked addresses. The money, originating from unknown counterparties, moved through decentralised exchanges and privacy coins, effectively vanishing from the view of regulators.
The scale is staggering. Over the past three years, the volume of crypto transactions tied to these entities exceeds $1.2 billion. The money has been used to purchase luxury properties, fund political action committees, and pay consultants who operate outside traditional banking channels.
Here is the problem: Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority is powerless to act. Current regulations cover only crypto assets that resemble securities or are used for payments. But the wallets in question appear to hold utility tokens and non-fungible assets that fall through the cracks. The FCA can request information, but has no jurisdiction over foreign-registered entities.
“This is the new Panama Papers,” a former senior Treasury official told me. “But worse. Because crypto moves at the speed of light, and regulators are stuck in the dial-up era.”
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the lack of a central authority means that even if suspicious activity is flagged, no one can freeze the assets. “By the time you get a court order, the crypto is already laundered through a thousand different wallets.”
Britain has been slow to act. While the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation requires all crypto firms to register and report transactions, the UK has yet to implement equivalent rules. The Treasury’s consultation on crypto regulation closed in April 2023, but no legislation has been introduced.
Meanwhile, the money keeps flowing. A forensic analysis of the blockchain reveals that in the second quarter of 2024 alone, nearly $300 million moved through the network. The pattern is familiar: small test transactions, then a flood, then layering through mixing services. Classic money laundering, but dressed in code.
The Trump organisation has not responded to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the former president’s campaign dismissed the report as “baseless conspiracy theories.” But the blockchain does not lie. Every transaction is permanent, public, and waiting to be examined.
For Britain, the lesson is clear. The regulatory vacuum is an open invitation for illicit finance. If the government does not act swiftly, the City of London could become a safe harbour for crypto crime. And unlike the Panama Papers, which took years to unravel, these digital footprints can be followed in real time. The question is whether anyone is watching.
