Trump-Linked Crypto Firm Hires Coinbase Vet as Chief Business Officer
World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm linked to the Trump family, has appointed Ryan Ballantyne as its chief business officer. Ballantyne is an experienced Wall Street executive with over 30 years of experience in asset management, derivatives, capital markets, and digital assets. He most recently served as head of Corporate Client Strategy at Coinbase.
Ballantyne's hiring comes as World Liberty seeks to expand into tokenized real estate and apply for a banking license. The company has already filed for a national trust bank charter and has been involved in several high-profile projects, including the tokenization of a Trump International hotel project in the Maldives.
The appointment of Ballantyne, who will be responsible for revenue, partnerships, and institutional relationships, is seen as an attempt to bring more stability and credibility to the company. However, World Liberty has been under scrutiny due to its ties to Guren 'Bobby' Zhou, a suspect in a UK money-laundering scheme, who provided the company with $100 million.
The market reaction to Ballantyne's appointment has been negative, with the price of $WLFI dropping by 88% from its record high of $0.46.