It is June 2026. The crypto market is experiencing another prolonged winter, but the crypto earnings of the Trump family look much more stable than bitcoin and the stock of the company involved in one of their biggest deals in the sector.
In August last year, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. helped launch a public crypto project. Less than ten months later, the company that bought the related tokens is already warning investors that it may not withstand further pressure. Meanwhile, the Trump family is still linked to about $500 million received from the sale of the asset.
To announce the partnership, Eric and Donald Jr. came to the Nasdaq exchange in New York together with Alt5 Sigma. At that time, it was a small public company that later changed its name to AI Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: AIFC). The project was presented to investors as a way to access a cryptocurrency associated with the Trump family brand through regular shares.
But after the deal was announced, everything went downhill. On August 8, Alt5 shares closed at $8.97. By the time of publication, AI Financial Corp. shares were trading at about $0.66. The drop was about 93%.
AI Financial Warns Investors, but Trump Family Token Sale Proceeds Remain Safe
AI Financial is now openly telling investors about its problems. The company’s shares have lost more than 90%, and the rebranding from Alt5 Sigma to AI Financial did not bring back buyers.
If within the next 15 trading sessions AIFC cannot stay above the level typical for penny stocks, the company may be delisted from Nasdaq.
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The August deal became a major payout for the Trump family crypto project World Liberty Financial. At that time, Alt5 bought WLFI tokens for $1.5 billion from World Liberty, a company launched by Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and their partners in 2024.
According to the project’s own disclosures, Donald Trump and unnamed family members could have received about $500 million after deducting commissions and token sale expenses.
The terms were even more favorable due to the token sale structure. The WLFI documents stated that the Trump family was entitled to 75% of the proceeds from token sales. This information was also included in the 2024 placement materials and in the notes on the World Liberty Financial website.
The Trump family’s connection to AI Financial also remained indirectly, through World Liberty’s stake in the company. SEC documents state that World Liberty received 1 million shares of AI Financial, 99 million prepaid warrants, and another 20 million warrants split into several packages.
These warrants can be exercised at prices from $7.50 to $9.75 per share.
The deal caught the attention of the Democracy Defenders Fund — a nonpartisan organization that criticizes ethical issues around the Trump administration. In April, its lawyers sent a letter to the SEC and asked the regulator to launch an independent investigation into the company.
According to the organization, they have not received a response from the SEC.
The chief anti-corruption counsel at the Democracy Defenders Fund, Virginia Canter, put the main question succinctly:
“Now the main question is, what happened to all that money?”
AI Financial’s Problems Went Beyond Stock Decline
The drop in share price was not the only problem for AI Financial. After the deal with World Liberty Financial, the company faced a series of unpleasant events.
First, the company disclosed that a court in Rwanda found an employee of its Canadian division guilty on several charges, including money laundering. AI Financial stated that the case is not over, as the decision is being appealed.
Then there was confusion with management. In October, the company, then still called Alt5, announced the suspension of its CEO. The interim leader was removed in November. After that, a third CEO took over and still runs the company.
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All these changes appeared in SEC documents, but the company did not explain in detail why the executives were changed.
Almost immediately, reporting problems began. In November, Alt5 warned investors that Nasdaq had sent the company a notice of possible delisting due to late quarterly reporting. That same month, the external auditor stopped working with the company.
Alt5 found a new auditor, but already in December said it needed another one. The reason was strange: the second auditor’s license had expired. Later, the company did submit the missing report and said the issue with Nasdaq was closed.
The business had regulatory problems even before the crypto pivot. In 2024, the company was called JanOne and was engaged in biotechnology. At that time, the SEC settled a case with it over fraud allegations. The company paid a $250,000 fine but did not admit guilt.
The crypto direction also does not look calm.
The main asset of AI Financial remains the WLFI tokens received as part of the deal with World Liberty Financial. After deducting commissions and expenses, the company received about 7.3 billion WLFI at a price of $0.20 per token.
By June 8, WLFI was trading at about $0.057. This is about 72% below the deal price. The WLFI package on the balance sheet of AI Financial is now valued at about $412 million.
But the market capitalization of AI Financial itself is about $89 million. Such a gap suggests that investors consider the company’s shares a riskier bet than direct ownership of WLFI tokens.
