The rollout of Donald Trump's sons' much touted crypto business threatens to unravel the former president's reelection campaign, his own supporters are reportedly warning.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump's new startup World Liberty finance is raising concerns among Trumpworld insiders as a series of scams plague the tumultuous launch, Politico reported Friday.
"Frankly it looks like they’re burning a lot of the good will," Nic Carter, Trump supporter and founding partner of crypto firm Castle Island Ventures, told Politico. “This is a huge mistake."
Politico reports the scams include messaging directing World Liberty Financial-curious fans toward fake web pages and Trump family hacked social media accounts.
Zak Folkman, a World Liberty representative, told Politico the group works with the world's top auditing firms and security specialists.
“We take security very seriously and put it first and foremost," Folkman said. "[We're] building a world-class decentralized finance platform with the absolute best of the best in the industry.”
But the scams have reportedly rattled Trump allies to the point where some are warning the Republican presidential nominee that his sons' project should be shelved.
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"It looks like Trump’s inner circle is just cashing in on his recent embrace of crypto in a kind of naive way," Carter reportedly said.
Trump's crypto industry supporters warn the son's business bromance tarnishes the industry's reputation and threatens a tightening race against Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Politico.
Trump, meanwhile, has promoted World Liberty on social media, even as government watchdogs warn the blurred line between business and politics creates conflict of interest concerns, Politico reported.
Austin Campbell, an adjunct professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, told Politico that the "amateur" rollout left the Trump family's latest venture vulnerable to scammers.
“It’s a very typical playbook of smaller operators or more amateur operations in the crypto space to try to generate a lot of hype before revealing the details,” Campbell reportedly said. “That makes them susceptible to all sorts of nonsense.”
Another crypto industry representative in Washington D.C. reported a "laundry list" of concerns that include that impact the troubled rollout could have on future policy to legitimize the sector, according to Politico.
Carter reportedly said he was struggling to find the upside of continuing the project.
“If this thing is hacked or regular folks lose money on it or it opens up the door for the SEC to investigate the team, it only looks like it has downside risk,” Carter said. “It looks to have very little upside risk.”
