The Trump family’s cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, is moving toward selling AI Financial, its payments arm, signaling a significant shift in its crypto strategy. Discussions with blockchain technology company Perpetuals.com have advanced after Perpetuals signed a non-binding agreement to explore acquiring AI Financial’s core business, according to corporate filings and reports.
This potential deal comes as AI Financial faces steep challenges. Once valued at $750 million following World Liberty’s acquisition of majority control, the company’s valuation plummeted to roughly $80 million, largely due to a drastic drop in the value of its digital tokens. These tokens, essential to World Liberty’s payment ecosystem, have depreciated by approximately 70%, eroding investor confidence and severely impacting market capitalization.
AI Financial, previously known as Alt5 Sigma, was a cornerstone of the Trump family’s ambitions to establish a global payments network using dollar-backed stablecoins. The payments business generated $25 million in revenue last year, representing the company’s only consistent income stream. Selling this subsidiary would therefore strip AI Financial of its primary revenue source. Despite this, World Liberty’s crypto ventures remain lucrative for the Trump family, with reported earnings exceeding $1.4 billion in 2025. However, investors holding AI Financial shares have suffered losses exceeding 90%, illustrating the volatility and risks of the enterprise’s underlying assets.
Perpetuals.com’s Chief Strategy Officer stated that no final decision has been made while the potential acquisition’s impact on growth and product development is still under assessment. The asking price under discussion reportedly reaches up to $15 million, indicating a major contraction from earlier valuations.
This downturn reflects wider difficulties in the crypto payments sector, where early expectations of fast, low-cost, borderless transactions have collided with practical hurdles. Fragmented blockchain networks, asset volatility, inconsistent user experience, and complicated settlement processes have complicated the promise of seamless crypto payments, as noted in recent industry analyses. Nevertheless, some experts suggest that the sector is gradually aligning with broader financial infrastructure trends, hinting at future stabilization and integration potential despite current setbacks.