Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, a new Financial Times report claimed that the Trump family’s crypto ventures have generated over $1 billion in profit, and Paxos says it mistakenly minted 300 trillion PayPal stablecoins before it was quickly spotted and flagged by members of the crypto community, showing blockchain’s transparency.

Trump’s second term fuels a $1 billion crypto fortune for his family: Report

US President Donald Trump’s second term in office has coincided with an extraordinary increase in his personal wealth, much of it linked to a sprawling cryptocurrency empire built by the president and his family.

According to a Financial Times investigation, Trump’s crypto ventures have generated more than $1 billion in pre-tax profit over the past year. Trump’s son, Eric, confirmed to the outlet that the family’s actual profits were “probably more.”

At the center of this new fortune is World Liberty Financial, a crypto company founded by Trump’s sons and allies, which has sold billions of dollars in tokens and stablecoins. The project, whose website identifies President Donald Trump as “co-founder emeritus,” launched last year with plans for a crypto-lending app. 

In June, Trump disclosed $57.4 million in income from his involvement with World Liberty Financial. Last month, the Trump family’s stake in the project surged to $5 billion after a token unlock. The FT estimates the family has earned $550 million from WLFI this year.

The Trump family has also profited from memecoins like Official Trump (TRUMP) and Official Melania Meme (MELANIA), which collectively brought in hundreds of millions of dollars through sales and trading fees.

Trump family earns over $1 billion from crypto ventures. Source: Financial Times

Paxos accidentally fat fingers $300 trillion PYUSD mint before burning it

On Wednesday, Paxos mistakenly minted $300 trillion worth of the PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin, describing it as an “internal technical error.” 

“This was an internal technical error,” said Paxos. “There is no security breach. Customer funds are safe. We have addressed the root cause.”

The incident took place on Oct. 15 at 7:12 pm UTC, and the entire amount was burned just 22 minutes later as onlookers caught onto it almost immediately.

PYUSD maintained its dollar peg following the news, but its price briefly dropped by about 0.5%, according to data from Nansen. Crypto borrowing and lending platform Aave also temporarily froze trading for PYUSD shortly after the incident.

Paxos’ $300 trillion error proves why banks should adopt blockchain, execs say

While fat finger transfers occur frequently in finance, the Paxos incident highlights why blockchain enables greater transparency than traditional banking — and why banks should adopt it for that exact reason.

Source: Ted Pillows

“Mistakes happen in every financial system — the difference with blockchain is that they’re visible, traceable, and quickly correctable,” Kate Cooper, the CEO of OKX Australia, told Cointelegraph. “That transparency is a strength, not a flaw,” she added.

Ryne Saxe, the CEO of the crosschain stablecoin liquidity platform Eco, shared a similar sentiment, stating: “This level of transparency, and real-time coordination, is unheard of in today’s central banking economy.”