On a show that averages 4.1 million viewers across TV and online channels, a prominent comedian and political commentator didn’t hold back in laying out the Trump connections to digital assets. Oliver painted crypto as being the family’s main business concern, outpacing real estate.

Whereas Trump initially called Bitcoin a scam and flagged crypto as a ‘disaster waiting to happen,’ he has reinvented himself now as the ‘first crypto president.’ His recent financial filings show his personal income exceeds $2.2 billion in his first year back in office, $1.2 billion of which is from crypto.

The President and First Lady have each launched their own meme coins, both of which crashed 92% and 99% from early highs. An estimated 1 million retail traders lost a total of $3.8 billion trading $TRUMP. Oliver suggested that the President was offering White House access in exchange for investment in the meme coin in some cases.

‘Maximum Sketchiness’: The Murky World of World Liberty Financial

The show host criticized what he viewed as dodgy deals being made under the umbrella of Trump-owned World Liberty Financial venture. These include TRON’s Justin Sun making a $45 million investment prior to an SEC fraud case settlement against him. The case was then dismissed with no admission of wrongdoing and settled for $10 million. Former SEC chief of staff Amanda Fischer described this as a ‘sweetheart deal’.

Oliver also noted that Emirati royals brokered a deal with World Liberty Financial that personally netted Trump $263 million, and that shortly afterward, US restrictions on UAE access to advanced Nvidia AI chips were lifted.

The comedian described crypto as “a perfect vehicle to funnel money” to the Trump family, mirroring the words of ethics attorney Virginia Canter on the subject, adding that Trump is “exploiting crypto sketchiness for maximum profit.”

Oliver’s Stance on Crypto Regulations

One key aspect of the show was the messaging on the CLARITY Act, a hotly discussed regulatory framework being proposed for crypto.

Oliver described the Act as moving regulatory oversight and power from the SEC to the CFTC, which he stated is ‘a small federal agency with little to no enforcement power’. The proposed regulations have been lauded by many in the crypto industry.

However, Last Week Tonight pointed out that the introduction of a new asset class, digital commodities, gives the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over spot and cash markets for those assets, potentially weakening regulatory powers that could counteract government corruption.

The show host also insinuated that the nebulous nature of the Trump family’s crypto dealings works in the President’s favor.

“If these conflicts of interest were as easy to understand as Jimmy Carter and his peanut farm I think there would be a lot more alarm about just how flagrantly corrupt and compromised Trump looks here,” said Oliver.

In the host’s view, the American public is complacent about what could be viewed as crypto corruption from a sitting president simply because it is difficult for a layperson to understand, causing him to stress the need for ‘proper guardrails.’

As it stands, the CLARITY Act is not yet law, with its odds of passing this year dropping to just 31% recently on prediction markets.

Source: CryptoPotato