Donald Trump earned at least $2.2bn in personal income last year, with $1.4bn of that coming from his crypto ventures, according to a Guardian analysis. The scale of this dwarfs historical presidential corruption scandals, such as the 1920s Teapot Dome affair, and has focused attention on Justin Sun, a Chinese crypto billionaire widely seen as the financial engine behind Trump's sudden crypto wealth despite the president having no prior background in the sector.

Sun, who made his fortune through the Tron blockchain and its TRX coin, has invested nearly $200m into Trump's digital asset ventures, including World Liberty Financial. His platform has also drawn scrutiny for its use by illicit actors, with reports suggesting groups including Hezbollah, Hamas and North Korean hackers have used Tron, and estimates that almost half of illicit crypto transactions in some years passed through it. The once-close relationship between Sun and the Trump family has since broken down into dueling lawsuits, with Sun accusing World Liberty Financial of illegally freezing his assets and the company countersuing him for defamation.