The former president is back. And he is cashing in. Donald Trump made over $1bn from cryptocurrency in his first year after returning to the White House, according to leaked Treasury documents seen by this bureau. The figure has sent shockwaves through Westminster. And it has triggered an immediate response from UK financial regulators.
The Financial Conduct Authority has been quietly drafting new rules for digital assets since the autumn. Sources say the FCA was caught off guard by the scale of Trump's crypto empire. One senior official called it 'a systemic risk to the global financial system.' The problem is that Trump's operation is based in the United States. UK regulators can't touch him. They can only tighten controls on British institutions trading in the same assets.
Downing Street is worried. The Prime Minister's chief of staff has held two emergency meetings with the Chancellor this week. The fear is that Trump's crypto portfolio could destabilise the dollar. And a weak dollar means a strong pound. That hurts British exporters. The Treasury is already modelling the impact of a 10% appreciation on manufacturing jobs.
But there is a deeper political game at play. Trump's return has emboldened the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative party. They see his crypto wealth as a symbol of American deregulation. And they want the same here. A backbench amendment to the Financial Services Bill, tabled last night, would force the FCA to 'match US standards of crypto permissiveness.' The rebellion has 37 signatories so far. Whips are scrambling.
The Labour opposition is piling on. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves accused the government of 'sleepwalking into a crypto casino.' She wants an emergency Commons debate. The Speaker has granted it for Monday. That gives the Treasury five days to produce a coherent response.
Inside the FCA, there is a split. The enforcement division wants to ban retail crypto trading altogether. The innovation unit argues it would drive business offshore. The chair is said to be leaning towards a compromise: strict custody rules and a new registration regime for exchanges. But sources admit that any new rules will take months to implement. By then, Trump could have doubled his money.
The $1bn figure itself is staggering. It comes from a combination of a memecoin launched during his campaign, a series of NFT drops, and a secretive trading firm linked to his son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Treasury leak included a note from the National Crime Agency warning that some of the transactions 'may be linked to sanctioned entities.' No evidence of illegality is alleged. But the optics are terrible.
What happens next? The FCA will publish a consultation paper next Wednesday. The Treasury will issue a statement on Monday, likely calling for 'proportionate' regulation. And the Conservative rebels will face a three-line whip on the amendment. If it passes, the government will have effectively endorsed Trump's model. If it fails, the Eurosceptics will claim the PM is weak.
One thing is clear: Trump's billion-dollar bet has changed the game. Whitehall is scrambling. The City is watching. And the rest of the world is wondering what comes next.
