Trump-Backed Company in Talks to Sell Payments Business Amid Slumping Crypto Values

The Trump-backed company behind the family's crypto wealth is in talks to sell its core business. AI Financial, which was acquired by World Liberty Financial for $750 million last year, has been a money loser for almost everyone except the Trumps.

World Liberty bought control of AI Financial using its own cryptocurrency and then raised another $750 million from investors to buy more digital tokens called WLFI. The company's market value is now at just $80 million due to a 70% slump in the value of WLFI and a 90% decline in investor shares.

The sale would strip AI Financial of its sole revenue-generating business, which earned $25 million last year. Perpetuals.com, a Tokyo-based company listed on Nasdaq, has signed a nonbinding agreement to explore the purchase of AI Financial's payments business for $5 million upfront in its own stock.

The deal would also allow Perpetuals.com to offer World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to European investors and license its trading engine to AI Financial. A Trump entity holds a 38% stake in World Liberty, which was valued at over $540 million due to the sale of WLFI tokens.