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More than two hours into Republican former President Donald Trump‘s “state of crypto” event on X Monday night, the team behind the Trump family’s new crypto project finally unveiled a key detail: Who can buy the forthcoming tokens it plans to release, and how shares of the project will be allotted.

For over a month, the former president and his family have been pumping up a project called World Liberty Financial, promising that it will do many things at once.

Lofty descriptions from those involved Monday night suggest that “World Liberty Financial” will be a sort of crypto banking platform, where the general public would be encouraged to borrow, lend and invest in crypto.

There will also be an accompanying token called WLFI, founders said Monday.

According to founder Zak Folkman, the equity structure for these tokens will be: 20% of the project’s tokens allotted to the founding team, which includes the Trumps, 17% of tokens set aside for user rewards, and the remaining 63% of the coins to be made available for the public to purchase.

There will be no pre-sales or early buy ins, Folkman said.

An earlier leaked draft of an internal project outline had the founders’ share at 70%, sparking concerns that the project would be little more than a get-rich-quick scheme.

The token will be a Reg D token offering, which follows the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation D — a provision that makes it possible for a company to raise capital without first registering their securities with the commission so long as certain conditions are met.

These were themes Trump covered in a conversation early in the more than two hour call, talking about the perceived hostility of the Securities and Exchange Commission towards the digital currency industry.

Several high profile figures in the industry take issue with SEC Chair Gary Gensler, claiming that he is regulating the industry through enforcement actions, rather than with rules.

Over the course of Trump’s 40-minute fireside chat, he talked about how he “wasn’t overly interested” in crypto initially. But that changed, he said, when sales of his Trump trademarked nonfungible token collections were paid for with crypto. “I think my children opened my eyes more than anything else.”

Monday’s event came at an unprecedented moment for Trump’s presidential campaign.

On Sunday afternoon at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump and his longtime friend and political donor, Steve Witkoff, were between the fifth and sixth holes on the course when gunshots were fired. The FBI has characterized the incident as an apparent assassination attempt on the former president.

Witkoff is a longtime friend of Trump’s. He’s also part of the small group of World Liberty Financial founders, according to an internal report on the project obtained by CoinDesk.

Witkoff was seated to Trump’s right during Monday night’s spaces, and described how he brought the Trump family together two crypto entrepreneurs.

“My son introduced me to two partners, Chase Herro and Zak Folkman, who are exceptionally bright people …These guys are as smart as any currency traders I’ve ever met. And they began talking to me about decentralized finance, which means frictionless finance, and why it made sense for people and about the forgotten, who can’t get credit out there,” he said.

“As I began to understand that, I said, ‘Who would understand this better than this than the Trump family?’ And we had a meeting initially with Eric, Don Jr, and the president and his counsel. And we said, Let’s go pursue it. We’ve been on it for close to nine months,” said Witkoff.

Along with Trump, Witkoff is one of at least a half dozen members of the project’s “leadership team.”

As Witkoff spoke, the parallels with Trump’s other venture, Trump Media Technology Group, were unavoidable.

In that case, two former cast members on Trump’s NBC hit “The Apprentice” approached Trump in 2021 with an idea for a new, conservative social network. Three years later, TMTG’s stock has boosted Trump’s net worth by billions of dollars, and Truth Social is his platform of choice.

Alongside Trump and Witkoff, founders include Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Barron Trump, as well as Witkoff’s son, Zach Witkoff, according to a person briefed by a member of the group’s founding team.

A copy of an early internal report, known as a white paper and obtained by CoinDesk, listed Barron as “Chief DeFi Visionary,” Eric and Donald Jr. as “Web3 Ambassadors,” and Trump Sr. as “Chief Crypto Advocate.”

But while the Trumps will receive compensation from the project, Bloomberg reports that the platform itself is “not owned, managed, operated or sold” by members of the Trump family.

Witkoff, a real estate investor, and Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, are the two people calling the shots at World Liberty Financial, according to a person familiar with the project. Both are new to the crypto industry.

CNBC reached out to Eric Trump and Witkoff to ask about their leadership roles within World Liberty, and didn’t immediately receive a reply.

Until Monday, much of what the public knew of World Liberty was based on interviews Trump’s sons had given to the press over the past month, as well as the leaked white paper that served as a sort of crypto project manifesto, and conversations with people familiar with the project.

Anyone who wanted material details of the platform, including the white paper, was being asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to a person familiar with the project

Some visible members of the industry newly cozied up to Trump in 2024, lending their cash and endorsement to the Republican presidential nominee, as he adopted increasingly bullish talking points on the campaign trail, which culminated in the GOP pick delivering a keynote address at the biggest bitcoin event of the year in Nashville in July.

Some of those supporters however, say they are concerned that this foray into crypto could jeopardize Trump’s rapport with the sector more broadly if the launch doesn’t go as planned.

A person familiar with the project says that Donald Trump, Sr. isn’t that involved in the platform thus far.

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Block leads rebound in fintech stocks as analysts downplay JPMorgan data fee risk

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Block leads rebound in fintech stocks as analysts downplay JPMorgan data fee risk

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies during a remote video hearing held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on “Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation” in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021.

Handout | Via Reuters

Block jumped more than 5% on Monday, leading a rally in shares of fintech companies as analysts downplayed the threat of JPMorgan Chase’s reported plan to charge data aggregators for access to customer financial information.

The recovery followed steep declines on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan had circulated pricing sheets outlining potential fees for aggregators like Plaid and Yodlee, which connect fintech platforms to users’ bank data.

In a note to clients on Monday, Evercore ISI analysts said the potential new expenses were “far from a ‘business model-breaking’ cost increase.”

In addition to Block’s rise, PayPal climbed 3.5% on Monday after sliding Friday. Robinhood and Shift4 recorded modest gains.

Broader market momentum helped fuel some of the rebound. The Nasdaq closed at a record, and crypto rallied, with bitcoin climbing past $123,000. Ether, solana, and other altcoins also gained.

JPMorgan announces plans to charge for access to customer bank data

Evercore ISI’s analysts said that even if JPMorgan’s changes were implemented, the most immediate effect would be a slight bump in the cost of one-time account setups — perhaps 50 to 60 cents.

Morgan Stanley echoed that view, writing that any impact would be “negligible,” especially for large fintechs that rely more on debit, credit, or stored balances than bank account pulls for transactions.

PayPal doesn’t anticipate much short-term impact, according to a person with knowledge of the issue. The person, who asked not to be named in order to speak about private financial matters, noted that PayPal relies on aggregators primarily for account verification and already has long-term pricing contracts in place.

While smaller fintechs that depend heavily on automated clearing house (ACH) rails or Open Banking frameworks for onboarding and compliance may face real pressure if the fees take effect, analysts said the larger platforms are largely insulated.

WATCH: Congress moves to redraw $3.7 trillion crypto market rules, opening door to Wall Street

Congress moves to redraw $3.7 trillion crypto market rules, opening door to Wall Street

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EV sales hit 9.1M globally in H1 2025, but the US just hit the brakes

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EV sales hit 9.1M globally in H1 2025, but the US just hit the brakes

The global EV market is still charging ahead. According to new numbers from global research firm Rho Motion, 9.1 million EVs were sold worldwide in the first half of 2025, up 28% compared to the same period last year. But not every region is accelerating at the same pace.

China and Europe are doing the heavy lifting

More than half of the world’s EVs this year have been bought in China. That market hit 5.5 million sales in the first six months of 2025 – a 32% jump year-over-year. Around half of new cars bought in China are now electric.

While some Chinese cities’ subsidies have dried up, Rho Motion expects momentum to pick back up later in the year as more funding is released.

In Europe, 2 million EVs were sold in the first half of the year, up 26%. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales also rose 26%, thanks in part to affordable models like the Renault 4 (pictured) and 5 entering the market. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) weren’t far behind, growing 27% year-to-date. Chinese automakers are leaning into PHEVs as a way to work around the EU’s new tariffs on BEVs.

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Spain is leading the pack with EV sales soaring 85% so far this year. Its generous MOVES III incentive program was extended in April and has kept sales strong. The UK and Germany are also seeing solid growth – 32% and 40%, respectively. France, however, is slumping. With subsidies cut, EV sales there have dropped 13%.

North America is stuck in the slow lane

Things aren’t looking quite as bright in North America. EV sales in the US, Canada, and Mexico are up just 3% so far this year.

Mexico is the one bright spot, with a 20% boost. The US is up 6%. But Canada is down a whopping 23%.

And things could get bumpier. On July 4, Trump signed Congress’s big bill into law, which axes all the Inflation Reduction Act EV tax credits. Those consumer credits for EVs now officially end on September 30.

Just over half of the EVs sold in the US this year qualified for those credits. Rho Motion predicts a rush in Q3 before the subsidies disappear – and a decline in sales after that.

Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said, “With Trump’s latest cuts in his ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the US could struggle to see any growth in the EV market overall in 2025.”

Global EV sales snapshot, H1 2025 vs H1 2024

  • Global: 9.1 million (+28%)
  • China: 5.5 million (+32%)
  • Europe: 2.0 million (+26%)
  • North America: 0.9 million (+3%)
  • Rest of world: 0.7 million (+40%)

Read more: China breaks records as global EV sales hit 7.2 million in 2025


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The Lucid Air is crushing the competition as the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US

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The Lucid Air is crushing the competition as the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US

Lucid’s electric sedan can drive further, charge faster, and packs more advanced tech than most of the competition. That might explain why it’s leading the segment. The Lucid Air remained the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US after widening its lead in the Q2.

The Lucid Air is America’s best-selling luxury EV sedan

The 2025 Lucid Air Pure arrived as the “World’s most efficient car” with an EPA-estimated range of 420 miles and a record 146 MPGe.

It just set a new Guinness World Record last week for the longest journey by an electric car after travelling 749 miles (1,205 km) on a single charge.

That record was set in the range-topping Lucid Air Grand Touring model, which is rated for up to 512 miles of EPA-estimated range. On the WLTP scale, it’s rated at 597 miles (960 km). Either way, it still crushed the estimates.

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According to second-quarter sales data, released by Kelley Blue Book on Monday, the Lucid Air is still America’s best-selling luxury EV.

Lucid sold 2,630 Air models in Q2, up 10% from the previous year. Through the first half of 2025, Lucid Air sales are up 17% with 5,094 units sold.

Lucid-Air-best-selling-luxury-EV-sedan
Lucid Air (Source: Lucid)

Tesla, on the other hand, only sold 1,435 Model Ss during the quarter, 71% fewer than it did in Q2 2024. Tesla Model S sales in the US are down 70% through the first half of the year at 2,715.

Although Porsche Taycan sales were up 32% with 1,064 models sold, the significantly upgraded 2025 model year was expected to see even more demand. Porsche has 2,083 Taycans in the US this year, up just 1% from 2024.

Lucid-best-selling-luxury-EV-sedan
Lucid Air Pure interior (Source: Lucid)

Other luxury EV sedans, such as the BMW i5 (1,434), i7 (820), and the Mercedes EQS (498), experienced steep double-digit sales declines year-over-year.

And it’s not just electric luxury sedans. The Lucid Air is currently outselling many gas-powered vehicles in its segment.

Lucid-Air-best-selling-luxury-EV-sedan
Lucid Air (left) and Gravity (right) Source: Lucid

Lucid’s first electric SUV, the Gravity, is also rolling out. Although only five were sold in the second quarter, Lucid is quickly scaling production. Lucid aims to produce 20,000 vehicles this year, more than double the roughly 9,000 it built in 2024.

Earlier today, Lucid’s interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, confirmed during an interview with Bloomberg that the company expects higher Gravity output in the second half of the year.

The interview was at the grand opening of Panasonic’s new battery cell plant in De Soto, Kansas. Winterhoff said Lucid will start using new cells from the facility, but not until next year.

Lucid’s CEO stressed the importance of establishing a local supply chain, as policy changes under the Trump Administration are taking effect. Lucid and Panasonic are collaborating to localize EV materials, such as graphite. Last month, Lucid secured a multi-year supply agreement with Graphite One for US-sourced Graphite.

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