Schiff’s forecast follows a federal financial disclosure that showed more than $1 billion in income tied to President Donald Trump's crypto business interests in 2025.
- Economist Peter Schiff on Tuesday predicted the Trump Organization may face an uptick in lawsuits from investors who lost money on cryptocurrencies linked to President Donald Trump.
- Schiff stated that many buyers either sought political access, supported President Donald Trump, or expected investment returns.
- He forecast that the last group is the one most likely to pursue legal action.
Economist and longtime crypto critic Peter Schiff on Tuesday took a break from going after Stragety (MSTR) executive chairman Michael Saylor over the company’s recent Bitcoin sales, to forecast that the Trump Organization will face a wave of lawsuits from investors who lost money buying cryptocurrency and stock offerings linked to the President.
In a post on X, He stated that the Trump family's gains came directly from those losses rather than genuine value creation. “Many buyers expected to lose money, as the purchases were disguised bribes,” he wrote.
Schiff’s rationale was that the Trump meme coins serve as a path to political favors, distinguishing between three types of buyers. The first were those who knew they'd lose money and treated the purchase as a disguised bribe, those who bought small amounts just to show support, and “unsophisticated Trump loyalists” who genuinely expected a return.
According to him, the third group will drive a wave of litigation against the Trump Organization, and that Democrats will use the most extreme cases in political ads ahead of the midterms.
Crypto Traders Also Call Out Trump’s Crypto Gains
Retail traders on Stocktwits agreed with Schiff's sentiment, with some calling President Donald Trump’s moves in the cryptocurrency market a “rug pull.”
This is not the first time Schiff has raised the bribery framing. In the past, he has accused Trump’s White House events for top Official Trump (TRUMP) coin holders, called the Trump Coin Gala, for being a "lousy investment" and theorizing that big buyers were paying for access rather than seeking returns.
Trump’s Crypto Income Tops $1 Billion
Schiff's latest prediction follows a federal financial disclosure that showed Trump brought in more than $1 billion in crypto-related income during 2025. The 927-page filing showed CIC Digital, which launched the TRUMP and Melania meme coin (MELANIA), earned about $636 million in meme coin royalties.
The filing also showed World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which has been pushing major cryptocurrency players to adopt its stablecoin USD One (USD1) and recently switched up its governance protocol, generated roughly $515 million from token sales.
The disclosure also led Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to renew last week her call for Congress to bar all elected officials and their spouses from issuing their own digital assets. The proposal would prohibit President Donald Trump from issuing tokens such as the TRUMP meme coin.
WLFI, TRUMP, MELANIA Tokens Remain Near Record Lows
The WLFI token’s price rose over 7% in the last 24 hours and was the top-trending cryptocurrency on Stocktwits after a Bloomberg report stated that the Trump administration's Strategic Bitcoin (BTC) Reserve plan reportedly hit a legal and bureaucratic snag. Both the Treasury Department and Commerce Department are reportedly under consideration to oversee the reserve, with the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel working to determine a legally viable framework.
Retail sentiment around the WLFI token on Stocktwits rose to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day, with chatter trending at ‘extremely high’ levels. However, WLFI’s price remains more than 80% below its record high of over $0.3, seen in September last week.
Both the TRUMP and MELANIA meme coins also continued to trade near record lows, despite edging higher in the last 24 hours. TRUMP coin’s price has fallen nearly 98% from its January 2025 peak of $73.43, while MELANIA’s price has dropped more than 99% from its high of $13.05, according to CoinGecko data.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the TRUMP meme coin rose to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, with chatter at ‘high’ levels. Meanwhile, sentiment around the MELANIA meme coin remained in ‘bullish’ territory, also with chatter at ‘high’ levels over the past day.
Read also: A Crypto Trade Group Just Joined The Fight To Stop Someone From Claiming Satoshi-Linked Bitcoin
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