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Trump’s Crypto-business: What Does it Portend for American People if he Wins the Election?
Donald Trump is promising to make America the “crypto capital of the planet” if he returns to the White House.
While he runs for president, Trump has launched a new venture to trade cryptocurrencies – promoting them on the same social media accounts that he uses for his campaign.
His two eldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, are also posting about their new platform, called World Liberty Financial.
So, too, is his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who is married to Eric and also serves as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Trump has long melded his political and business interests, promoting his hotels and golf courses in the White House while selling sneakers, Bibles and shares in his social media company during his current campaign.
Now, Trump has launched a new moneymaking venture that could explode in value if he’s elected.
What’s more, presidential power could allow him to push through legislative and regulatory changes long sought by crypto advocates.
“Taking a pro-crypto stance is not necessarily troubling; the troubling aspect is doing it while starting a way to personally benefit from it,” said Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
“The success of this could be very tied to American economic policy,” Libowitz said.
Trump has changed his tune
Cryptocurrencies are forms of digital money that can be traded over the internet without relying on the global banking system.
They are commonly traded on exchanges, which are marketplaces that can be used to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies.
Exchanges often charge fees for withdrawals of Bitcoin and other currencies.
World Liberty Financial – linked to Trump – is expected to be a borrowing and lending service similar to recently hacked Dough Finance, an app built by four people listed as World Liberty Financial team members, according to crypto news site CoinDesk.
Many details about World Liberty Financial, including what stake Trump and his family members have in it, are still unknown.
After Lara Trump posted Tuesday on her X account about “our goal at World Liberty”, her husband, Eric Trump, posted online that Lara and his sister, Tiffany, had been hacked.
During his time in the White House, Trump said he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrency and tweeted in 2019: “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behaviour, including drug trade and other illegal activity.”
Trump has since, however, changed his tune and taken on a more favourable view of cryptocurrencies.
In May, he announced that his presidential campaign would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency as part of an effort to build a “crypto army” leading up to Election Day.
The former president also attended a bitcoin conference in Nashville this year, where he promised to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet”.
Influence on monetary policy
If elected again, Trump has talked about exerting more control over monetary policy, suggesting he would press the Federal Reserve to set lower interest rates.
He is also promoting decentralised finance, or “DeFi,” which is a general term for using public blockchain space to disrupt the traditional finance world.
Trump has also talked about subsidising the use of Bitcoin mining in order to increase energy production and has vowed to block the creation of a Federal Reserve-administered Central Bank Digital Currency.
This is a digital form of central bank money that would be available to the public.
Appealing to the crypto voter base
Embracing cryptocurrency could be another way for the Trump campaign to reach younger men, including by engaging with conservative influencers.
Crypto also appeals to Trump allies who are concerned about government influence over global markets and worry generally about the reach of the so-called “deep state”.
Dustin Stockton, a pro-Trump activist turned crypto influencer, said he is supportive of the former president’s endeavours in the crypto space and the upcoming launch of World Liberty Financial.
“The Trump family’s engagement and involvement, and learning what it is that underlies crypto, I think is actually a really positive thing,” he said.
Stockton points to the Biden administration as anti-crypto, citing SEC head Gary Gensler’s pursuit of firms like Coinbase and Binance.
A conflict of interest?
While the White House issued an executive order on digital assets in 2022, no substantive laws have been passed by Congress or written into regulation by the White House.
Stockton said the lack of clarity of written rules by the Biden administration, as well as the SEC’s heavy-handed enforcement on crypto firms through a series of lawsuits, indicates that “there’s no clarity and there’s selective and arbitrary enforcement of regulations”.
“Frankly, I’d like to see all members of government get a better understanding of what this is,” he said.
J.W. Verret, a professor at George Mason University’s law school, said Trump would not be in violation of the law by launching a new project and promoting policies that would benefit it.
“I don’t see any problem with someone, anyone in government who owns assets or who starts a business – in fact, I think it’s hard for someone to regulate a particular type of business unless they work in that business,” he said.
Credit: Euronews except headline
Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria is positioning as a regional Internet Exchange hub for West Africa in terms of infrastructure and traffic. Muhammed Rudman, chief executive officer, IXPN, stated this at its 2026 members engagement forum held in Lagos. He noted some of the major milestone IXPN achieved last year to include one terabit of traffic recorded in March 2025.
“At that time, we became the 63rd internet exchange point in the world. Among all the exchanges in Europe and America and in the entire world, we become the number 63 in the world. To achieve that one terabit of traffic. Again, we were able to achieve two terabits of traffic within seven, eight months of the year.
“We achieve this by ensuring that we push for members to upgrade, those that were on 1 Gig to 10 Gig, those on 10 Gig to 100 Gig. We had a strategic infrastructure upgrade across our networks, put 400 Gig enable switches, increase our fiber links to all the data centers and we onboarded 17 new members last year. All the trainings and the operational excellence ensured that our network is up and running 24/7,” he said.
Industry Impact
The impact of that one terabit traffic is data sovereignty. “We were able to domesticate. Based on the survey we conducted, 54% of our members said that they are exchanging 50% of their traffic and above locally, which is really, significant one.
“We are also setting up a benchmark for other African IXPs. I can assure you that in all the community driven internet exchange points in Africa, we are the number one. There’s a community driven internet exchange point in South Africa that was established 10 years before IXPN. There is one in Kenya that was established 6 years before IXPN, but we are way ahead of them when it comes to internet traffic.
“We are also promoting intra African connectivity. As at today, we have customers from Niger, from, Burkina Faso, trying to reach to Nigeria. Recently, we onboarded a very large company in Ivory Coast, to connect to Nigeria.
“Gradually, Nigeria is tilting towards becoming the regional hub for West Africa, where you see Internet Service Providers coming to achieve that. And in terms of the traffic, in 2015 we were at four Gigabits per second. It moves to 21 in 2017 and 52 gigabits per second.
“But by the year 2023 it has reached 540 gigabits. By 2024 we have reached 900 gigabits. But by the end of 2025 we have achieved the two terabits of traffic”.
Network Infrastructure Development
Some of the technical feet IXPN achieved includes, deployment of sFlow; which is a peer to peer traffic analysis. “We’re able to see what members are exchanging between themselves and between the data centers, not the actual content or information, but rather the volume of traffic, and also between our data centers. And based on this, we’re able to do the upgrades.
“We did a multiple link upgrades from 300 Gigabits last year from Digital Realty to Equinix. It was 300 Gig as at the end of 2024, and by 2025, we’ve increased that to 500 gigabits per second. Digital Realty to Rack Center, it was 200 Gigabits per second. We also upgraded that to 500 Gigabits per second.
Open Access Data Centre to Equinix. We’ve upgraded from 20 Gigabits per second to 200 Gigabits per second. We always monitor the ports, and based on that, we increase immediately we reach the threshold of 80%.
“We did an upgrade on the IXP manager. This allows each member to have a login portal to see the traffic they are exchanging and other details, the port as well as to do their own configuration,” he added.
Technical Project Milestones
Microsoft connected cache. “We deployed Microsoft content cache and that has been deployed in Lagos. It was 25 Gigabits per second as of 2024 by 2025 we had to upgrade the infrastructure to 75 Gigabits per second servers, that will be able to accommodate all the Microsoft updates they are doing, exports, download and among others.
“This is part of the content that Microsoft is not providing locally, but we got those servers deployed, and our intention is by next year to see how we can replicate this across the country. Last year, we also deployed the same server in Abuja so that the Abuja people and the Kano people can reach that content without coming back to Lagos.
The Google Global Cache (GGC); “We are hosting all these at IXPN. We also upgraded from 53 Gigabits per second servers in 2024 to 153 Gigabits per second. And this is a huge traffic of YouTube. And as we speak, we are also working towards upgrading those servers,” he explained.
Strategic Partnerships
“We signed an MoU last year between us and an IXP in Senegal, when we went for West African peering forum. A lot of African ISPs are looking to us to see how we can guide them and support them.
“For example, internet exchange point from Gabon, internet exchange point from Rwanda and ISPs in Africa are looking at us as a model to copy, and we tend to support them. We also had a strategic partnership with CIRA, the Canada Internet Registry Association, which is similar to Nira, the Nigerian Internet Registration Association, to have their secondary authoritative servers into Nigeria as an anycast instance. And when they are hosting that, they are hosting other top-level domains as well, like alibaba.info.org.ca, are also hosted with us.
“Since they launched last year, we have seen a traffic of over 1000 DNS responses per second. Presently, there are 13 global root servers in the world, and those 13 servers are the ones that translate your IP address into a domain name. Any website you browse, you put a domain name, it translates into an IP address and its chain of referrals, Nigeria has.ng as a country, called Top Level Domain”.
Earlier in his welcome address, Charles Nmeregini, Business Development Manager, IXPN, said that the members engagement forum is more than an annual country. “Today, we pause to celebrate the milestone, the milestone that we have reached together, the milestone that have bolstered our local traffic exchange, reduce latency and significantly lower the cost of Internet access across the nations and beyond.
“However, today is equally about the horizon. It is a strategic moment as we unveil our 2026 service road map, a forward-looking rubbing designed to deepen interconnection, enhance service delivery and unlock new value across the ecosystem. In an era defined by rapid technological shift, standing still is not an option.
“This forum will spotlight exclusive, strategic business opportunities, new avenues for growth, enhanced pairing capabilities and innovative service model tailored to give your organization a competitive edge. We are not just exchanging data, we are exchanging ideas that will drive the next wave of Nigeria digital economy,” he added.
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, having a trusted and reputable IT partner is no longer optional—it’s essential. Consumers and businesses alike face numerous challenges: buying smartphones, tablets, and laptops that are substandard or incompatible, worrying about device security, and struggling with costly repairs when gadgets break down.
Menxtt NG
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Menxtt NG addresses this by offering repair services for all major gadgets, saving customers significant money while extending the life of their devices. And for new devices, they provide fully tested EU-spec phones, laptops, and tablets with a 6-month warranty, ensuring both performance and durability.
Accessibility is another barrier Menxtt NG tackles head-on. With free nationwide delivery and a free charging cord included with purchases, they make premium technology available across Nigeria.
Their presence in Ola Ayeni Street, Computer Village, Ikeja, combined with easy contact via 08115919964, 08140902614, 0802 061 1299, 0802 893 1940, +234 916 642 2759, as well as online support at www.menxtt.com.ng and [email protected], ensures convenience for every customer.
Anthony Nwosu, CEO of Menxtt NG, highlights the company’s mission: to deliver top-quality, secure, and durable devices while providing accessible repair and support services.
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In a market flooded with subpar devices and unreliable service, Menxtt NG proves that choosing a reputable IT plug is crucial. With EU-spec devices, nationwide delivery, genuine warranties, and expert repair services, Menxtt NG doesn’t just sell technology—they empower customers to enjoy, protect, and maximize the life of their devices.
Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has strongly condemned Gabon’s ongoing suspension of major social media platforms—Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube—ordered by the Haute Autorité de la Communication (HAAC) on February 17, 2026.
Social Media
NetBlocks and independent monitors confirm widespread disruptions persisting as of February 20, driving users to VPNs amid unstable nationwide connectivity.
PIN described the blanket shutdown as a grave breach of digital rights, including freedom of expression and access to information, silencing discourse during anti-government protests and a labour strike.
The digital rights group highlighted the absence of specific violation evidence, legal basis clarity, or restoration timeline from HAAC, rendering the measure disproportionate.
Gabon’s actions contravene Article 9 of its Constitution, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 19), and African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Article 9), failing international legality, necessity, and proportionality tests.
NetBlocks estimates a $2.96 million (FCFA 1.78 billion) Total Cost Impact over two days from WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube outages, crippling entrepreneurs, small businesses, freelancers, journalists, and civil society reliant on these platforms.
The shutdown disrupts commerce, digital payments, customer engagement, and livelihoods—especially youth and informal sectors—in a nation with prior digital curbs during unrest.
PIN urged immediate full platform restoration, HAAC transparency on legal grounds and order details, and ISP notices detailing government directives.
ISPs and tech firms must uphold UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ensuring transparency on connectivity orders and avoiding complicity in violations.
This pattern undermines Gabon’s transparency, civic participation, and democratic governance commitments.
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