A major investigation by The New York Times published on Sunday has exposed a disturbing pattern at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC): career officials who raised red flags about three crypto firms connected to the Trump family were sidelined, while the companies received the regulatory approvals they sought.
The three firms at the center of the story are Polymarket, Crypto.com, and a Gemini affiliate called Gemini Titan. All required CFTC approval for their prediction market operations. The ties to the Trump family are direct: Polymarket received investment from Donald Trump Jr.‘s venture firm, Crypto.com is a business partner of Trump Media, and Gemini’s founders back American Bitcoin, co-founded by Eric Trump.
According to internal records, CFTC staff warned that Polymarket lacked sufficient fraud protections, Crypto.com failed to guarantee fair conditions for small bettors, and Gemini Titan began operating before completing a mandatory regulatory review. Despite these concerns, then‑acting Chair Caroline Pham and senior advisor Brigitte Weyls intervened to push the approvals through. In late 2025, two officials who raised those issues were placed on administrative leave, and three other enforcement‑related staff faced similar treatment. Both Pham and Weyls later left the agency — Pham joined MoonPay, a company already linked to Polymarket, while Weyls became general counsel of Gemini Titan.
The investigation also revealed a sharp decline in crypto enforcement under the current administration. The CFTC closed at least five active investigations and filed only two enforcement cases, a stark contrast to the more than 80 cases brought under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, Justin Sun filed a fraud lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a Trump family venture, alleging it froze over $70 million worth of his tokens. World Liberty Financial countersued for defamation. Separately, earlier reports noted a $2 billion investment into World Liberty Financial from an Abu Dhabi government‑backed company, coinciding with an imminent transfer of high‑end AI microchips from the Trump administration to the UAE.
The New York Times report raises serious questions about conflicts of interest and the erosion of public confidence in crypto regulation, suggesting that federal watchdogs were effectively muted for performing their duties.
