Author: Nancy, PANews
Not long ago, the mandatory road leading to Mar-a-Lago was officially renamed "Donald J. Trump Boulevard." This road extends all the way from the Palm Beach International Airport, with a huge golden sign that has not only become a new visual landmark in the area, but also a concrete manifestation of Trump's personal influence.
In Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago has long been more than just Trump's private club. It is both a power hub for American political and business elites and a money-making machine that brings in tens of millions of dollars annually for the Trump family.
And this road, named "Trump Avenue," has long been crowded with crypto visitors.
WLFI organizes an event, traditional elites take seats at the crypto main table
At the end of January, WLFI announced publicly that it would hold the first World Liberty Forum at Mar-a-Lago on February 18 (the second day of the Chinese New Year), with the number of forum seats limited to about 300 people.
This is not an open cryptocurrency conference, but a closed-door gathering of elites that has been carefully selected. Whether one can enter depends on the participant's "weight." The official invited guests are divided into three categories: attendees, speakers, and media. All applicants must submit their industry, position, contact information, and an X (formerly Twitter) account, and will be uniformly reviewed by the organizers. The spots cannot be transferred.
From the announced list of speakers, the majority come primarily from important circles of Wall Street and American politics.
At the financial institution level, the confirmed attendees include David Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, Adena Friedman, Chairman and CEO of Nasdaq, and Lynn Martin, President of NYSE, covering key nodes within the financial system;
In the field of asset management and private capital, including Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson, Third Point founder Daniel Loeb, Altimeter Capital founder Brad Gerstner, and Avenue Capital co-founder Marc Lasry, are traditional capital forces that have been active for a long time;
In terms of regulation and policy, the current chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Michael Selig, U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno, Ashley Moody, and Jacob Helberg, Deputy Secretary of State for Economic Affairs at the White House, are also on the official list;
Other notable figures such as FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Turing Award winner Yoshua Bengio, and co-founder of Canton Network Yuval Rooz were also included in the invitation scope.
As the initiating party, Trump's two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., as well as several core members of WLFI, will be involved throughout the entire process.
Compared to previous crypto events held at Mar-a-Lago, which were mainly attended by project teams, industry professionals, and whales, this time traditional elites have taken their seats at the main table of crypto.
This change may be closely related to WLFI's ongoing strategic adjustments in recent months.
From advancing compliance actions such as obtaining a national trust bank license from WLFI, to promoting the launch plan of the lending platform World Liberty Markets and preparing the "Digital Dollar Entry" WLFI App, to continuously expanding the real use cases and market size of the stablecoin USD1, WLFI is trying to play a serious DeFi player role to strengthen its infrastructure potential in the trend of TradFi (traditional finance) and crypto convergence.
It is worth noting that WLFI has recently opened a special channel for WLFI contributors. Applicants need to submit their holdings and contribution records in WLFI or the stablecoin USD1, which will be reviewed and screened by the official team.
Unlike the previous model of simply using real money to buy entry qualifications, this time it tends to adopt a hybrid system of "contribution + review." To some extent, this provides a channel for community members to join the Trump family meeting. Currently, there are already some users who have actively posted their contribution threads, trying to gain entry qualifications.
Testing the Waters, Forming Alliances, and Raking in Funds: The Trump Family's Cryptocurrency Headquarters
Before this, the "Winter White House," covering an area of about 80,000 square meters, had already become a secret meeting place for the Trump family and crypto leaders.
As early as 2023, Trump invited holders of his NFTs to meet with him. This seemingly fan-oriented gathering was viewed by many observers as a turning point, as it was the first time Trump publicly discussed and promoted cryptocurrency investments to a clearly defined group of supporters.
In May 2024, Trump hosted a cryptocurrency-themed event at Mar-a-Lago, where some supporters from the crypto industry on-site pledged to provide financial support for his campaign. Subsequently, his campaign team began officially accepting cryptocurrency donations, and crypto was no longer just a symbolic political gesture, but gradually became an actual fundraising tool.
A month later, Trump hosted executives from several Bitcoin mining companies at Mar-a-Lago and publicly stated that he would provide policy support for miners if he returns to the White House. According to Bloomberg at the time, Bitcoin miners are an important support force in Trump's campaign.
Months later, on election night, multiple crypto leaders, including Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey, and Kraken Chief Legal Officer Marco Santori, gathered at Mar-a-Lago to celebrate Trump's victory, which was also seen as the true beginning of a crypto-friendly era.
In January 2025, executives from leading crypto companies such as Crypto.com, Ripple, and Coinbase visited Mar-a-Lago to discuss policy directions and regulatory frameworks with Trump's team and made large donations to his political organization.
In May 2025, Trump hosted a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago for the top 220 holders of the Meme coin $TRUMP. Attendees included Tron founder Justin Sun, former NBA player Lamar Odom, and the event raised a total of approximately $148 million.
From the early supporter gatherings to campaign funding, and from policy statements to regulatory communication, Mar-a-Lago has witnessed the entire process of the cryptocurrency industry's transition from the wild to the halls of power.