In 2024, the Trump family was getting its new crypto firm, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), off the ground and looking for advisors. WLFI cofounder and advisor to the current President, Steve Witkoff, reached out to a veteran crypto venture capitalist, Nic Carter, but Carter had reservations.
According to a New York magazine feature on World Liberty, Carter declined to join upon realizing that Witkoff appeared to know very little about crypto. “He didn’t know what crypto or DeFi was. He didn’t know what the pitch was,” Carter told New York. “I’m like, ‘Oh, okay, so there’s no product. They’re just doing a token.’”
The final straw, though, came when Witkoff brought up memecoins, a popular type of cryptocurrency inspired by viral memes or internet culture.
“The biggest giveaway was when Witkoff explained that Trump had become interested in the crypto project because ‘Barron was getting active with meme coins’ — but pronounced it “me-me” coins,” Carter explained.
WLFI’s origins
