A VC says he declined to join the Trump family’s crypto venture after cofounder Steve Witkoff couldn’t pronounce ‘memecoin’

Steve Witkoff walks in front of a car dressed in suit and tie with his phone in his hand and his jacket draped over his arm. (Credit: SAUL LOEB—Getty Images)

In 2024, the Trump family was getting its new crypto firm, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), off the ground and looking for advisors. WLFI cofounder and advisor to the current President, Steve Witkoff, reached out to a veteran crypto venture capitalist, Nic Carter, but Carter had reservations.

According to a New York magazine feature on World Liberty, Carter declined to join upon realizing that Witkoff appeared to know very little about crypto. “He didn’t know what crypto or DeFi was. He didn’t know what the pitch was,” Carter told New York. “I’m like, ‘Oh, okay, so there’s no product. They’re just doing a token.’”