Democrats walk out over $2.9 billion Trump crypto conflict

Democratic lawmakers led by Representative Maxine Waters exited a joint congressional hearing on digital assets, raising concerns over what they described as conflicts of interest tied to President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency holdings.

Waters stated her objection to the proceedings, citing “the corruption of the President of the United States and his ownership of crypto and his oversight of all the agencies,” and called for the hearing to be blocked.

Estimates from several reports indicate that Trump’s crypto-related assets now total around $2.9 billion, representing nearly 40% of his net worth.

These holdings are linked to the launch of meme coins such as TRUMP (CRYPTO:TRUMP) and MELANIA (CRYPTO:MELANIA), a significant stake in the crypto exchange World Liberty Financial (CRYPTO:WLFI), and profits from NFT projects and Ethereum-based (CRYPTO:ETH) assets.

The increase in Trump’s crypto fortune has drawn scrutiny, particularly as an Abu Dhabi-backed firm, MGX, announced a $2 billion investment into a Trump-affiliated crypto fund, further boosting the president’s digital asset profile.

Democrats responded by releasing draft legislation that would ban the president, vice president, members of Congress, and their immediate families from owning or profiting from cryptocurrencies, aiming to prevent conflicts of interest in government.

Republican lawmakers continued the event as an informal roundtable, focusing on digital asset regulatory frameworks, but did not directly address the Democrats’ concerns about Trump’s crypto ties.

The dispute underscores deep partisan divisions over crypto regulation and the influence of personal financial interests on policymaking, with some Republicans acknowledging that Trump’s involvement complicates efforts to pass new legislation.

“Instead of divesting his crypto holdings to prevent any potential conflicts of interest, President Trump appears to have positioned himself to maximie his profits from them,” the nonprofit State Democracy Defenders Action stated, calling for congressional action.