Thu Sep 11 01:20:00 UTC 2025: ## Trump-Backed Crypto Deal Shifts as Eric Trump’s Board Seat Vanishes After Nasdaq Review

**[City, State] –** A planned collaboration between the Trump Organization and fintech firm Alt5 Sigma has hit an unexpected snag, with Eric Trump’s slated position on the company’s board of directors quietly revoked just weeks after the deal was announced.

Alt5 Sigma, which plans to raise $1.5 billion to acquire digital tokens from World Liberty Financial (WLF), a crypto startup co-founded by Donald Trump and his sons, initially announced Eric Trump would join its board. However, an SEC filing two weeks later revealed that, “after discussions with Nasdaq,” Eric Trump would now serve only as a board observer. Zak Folkman, WLF’s COO and fellow co-founder, will now take a director position.

The filing offered no explanation for the change or specific Nasdaq rule that triggered the revision. Neither Alt5 Sigma, World Liberty Financial, nor Nasdaq responded to requests for comment.

Eric Trump posted on X that he remains “1000% committed” to World Liberty Financial and is “all in” on the venture but did not offer any further explanation for the role change.

World Liberty Financial, launched in September 2024, positions itself as a decentralized finance platform “inspired by the vision of Donald J. Trump.” An LLC affiliated with the Trump family owns around 38% of WLF and a significant portion of its $WLFI tokens.

The news comes as Donald Trump’s personal wealth has surged, driven in part by cryptocurrency holdings.

The SEC filing also revealed that Alt5 Sigma received a summons and complaint in August tied to a bankruptcy case involving its former CFO, Virland Johnson. The complaint alleges Johnson failed to disclose restricted stock units entitling him to 330,000 shares in his January 2024 bankruptcy petition. The U.S. trustees are seeking to recover the shares or their value from the company, which disputes any allegations against it. Additionally, it disclosed a Rwandan court found its Canadian subsidiary criminally liable for illicit enrichment and money laundering. The company and Beauchesne have appealed.

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