China could leverage crypto control over Trump family wealth

Opinion by: Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association

China’s power implicit cryptocurrency liquidity successful Hong Kong gives it unprecedented powerfulness implicit the Trump family’s crypto wealth. This leverage lets Beijing power the family’s fiscal destiny — and perchance US-China relations — done marketplace moves. As Eric Trump visits Hong Kong, this crypto-political nexus signals a caller epoch of planetary power.

Cryptocurrency is nary longer seen arsenic conscionable the caller fiscal innovation astir the block. Virtual assets person go almighty geopolitical instruments determining the fates of nations. 

As Imran Khalid said, “China, by opposition [to the US], has played the agelong game. It chose dialog implicit drama, and rule implicit provocation.” 

China’s emergence and increasing power and dominance implicit the Web3 system were likewise marked by its cautiously orchestrated flexible liquidity power structure done a parallel hedge successful Hong Kong. When considering this level of control, combined with the Trump family’s unprecedented and expanding reliance connected integer assets for wealth, it reveals a subtle yet decisive signifier of power that Beijing tin wield. 

Trump family’s crypto wealthiness surge

US President Donald Trump attacked Bitcoin (BTC) during his archetypal presidency, saying it’s “not money” and “based connected bladed air.” This presumption had made an evident U-turn by 2025.

In a Fox News interrogation with Donald Trump Jr., helium revealed that the household “didn’t person a choice” but to get into crypto aft banks refused to bash business with them aft the Jan. 6 “nonsense.” As a politically exposed idiosyncratic (PEP), this was a telling turnaround. 

Banks and fiscal institutions are usually stricter erstwhile dealing with PEPs due to the fact that their salient positions usually mean they go targets for bribery and corruption, yielding a higher hazard of fiscal transgression entanglement with illicit wealth laundering. 

Since taking the plunge into crypto, the Trump household has shifted dramatically successful favour of crypto arsenic a azygous motor of idiosyncratic wealth. In July, it was reported that the Trump family’s crypto ventures predominate their portfolio, accounting for 40% of their $2.9 cardinal nett worth.

These ventures see World Liberty Financial, which has successfully raised hundreds of millions of dollars done token sales, including the TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins. Eric Trump’s engagement successful American Bitcoin has further amplified the family’s crypto exposure. 

This crypto vulnerability is unprecedented for governmental families successful the US, if not the full world. It has further concentrated wealthiness successful an plus people known for its hyper-volatility, which, successful turn, is present an manufacture that is intertwined with Hong Kong’s licensed exchanges — exchanges that are astatine the epicenter of China’s crypto liquidity strategy. 

While this situation introduces heightened fiscal risk, it simultaneously empowers China with a captious lever.

China’s crypto liquidity strategy 

China’s announcement to liquidate seized virtual assets via Hong Kong’s licensed exchanges is not conscionable instrumentality enforcement housekeeping but a halfway strategical determination successful Beijing’s planetary crypto ambitions. This liquidity injection plan, coupled with the LEAP Digital Assets Policy 2.0, aims to crook Hong Kong into the ascendant virtual plus hub that China tin utilize arsenic a marketplace terms vehicle. 

Related: China’s crypto liquidation plans uncover its expansive strategy

The “national team” is simply a word that is well-known successful Hong Kong’s (and greater Asia’s) fiscal circles. It comprises sovereign wealthiness funds and different state-backed entities, with assets reportedly good implicit $1 trillion. Initially formed successful effect to the marketplace clang successful 2015, the nationalist squad poured $17 cardinal into the markets and was credited for lowering the risks by 30%-45% during the intervention. 

Fast guardant to 2025, the nationalist squad is grounds that China’s program to liquidate seized crypto is not simply an “offloading” action. Instead, entities similar the nationalist squad tin likewise bargain up immoderate liquidating crypto, power marketplace proviso and request to stabilize, inflate oregon deflate plus values arsenic Beijing desires.

China’s expansive strategy is dynamic and flexible. It’s a crisp opposition with the US, which has maintained a passive hodl-only reserve policy, lacking the flexibility to power liquidity oregon respond efficaciously to terms volatility. 

To this end, China remains 1 of the fewer countries with the unsocial operation of a sizable liquidatable excavation of virtual assets and a nationalist squad operating extracurricular the confines of mainland China, including the sovereign wealthiness money successful Hong Kong with implicit $1 trillion connected standby. 

This dual capableness gives China a singular means to power valuations, susceptible of pushing prices to rise, autumn oregon stabilize astatine Beijing’s discretion. Considering the expanding fig of companies and countries pursuing the Bitcoin treasury strategy, Beijing volition person unprecedented power implicit specified corporations and nations. 

Through Hong Kong, China has created a cardinal to cementing the Trump family’s legacy, either to catapult his household wealthiness to the satellite oregon crook him into the beggar king if helium misbehaves. 

US argumentation softens toward China portion pressuring others

China’s simultaneous power implicit aggregate stages of the virtual plus marketplace worth concatenation enables Beijing to efficiently negociate the proviso and request (which crypto relies heavy connected for its valuation) and pricing dynamics each astatine once, efficaciously commanding the crypto marketplace (much similar its preferred style) alternatively than being a specified subordinate successful it. 

For example, the Trump administration’s pugnacious stance toward India for importing Russian lipid is contrasted by its leniency toward China, which, arsenic noted by galore reporters, is simply a acold larger importer of Russian energy. 

The selective unit reveals China’s greater geopolitical leverage, which, connected the surface, appears to beryllium each astir uncommon earths but, deeper down, whitethorn see fiscal sway implicit politically connected actors specified arsenic the Trump family. 

Eric Trump’s upcoming homage to Hong Kong’s forthcoming crypto league symbolizes this crypto nexus. His information underscores however tightly the First Family’s fiscal and governmental fortunes are sewn into the cloth of China’s strategical crypto market. 

Opinion by: Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association.

This nonfiction is for wide accusation purposes and is not intended to beryllium and should not beryllium taken arsenic ineligible oregon concern advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed present are the author’s unsocial and bash not needfully bespeak oregon correspond the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.