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The Trump family’s crypto push is not being powered by Wall Street giants, but rather, two small financial institutions most people have never heard of.
One sits inside Trump Tower in Manhattan, while the other operates out of a small New Jersey office between a junkyard and a funeral home.
These firms are Dominari Holdings and Yorkville Advisors, and both have moved from quiet obscurity into the middle of a flood of crypto deals linked to the Trump sons this year.
Eric Trump said the family is working with these companies because of speed and trust. He said, “Some of the smaller guys are faster, more nimble, and some of them have become great friends.”
Eric added that big banks like Goldman Sachs might not offer that same atmosphere, saying meetings there feel like sitting in a “fancy conference room over expensive finger food.”
Yorkville helps raise billions for Trump-linked crypto moves
Yorkville Advisors helped Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) raise $2.5 billion this year to buy bitcoin, and it also supported the announcement of five “America First” themed exchange-traded funds.
In August, TMTG partnered with Crypto.com and Yorkville Acquisition Corp to buy $1 billion worth of the cryptocurrency Cronos. Another Yorkville fund agreed to provide a $5 billion equity line of credit to the new company formed from that transaction. Cronos briefly surged after TMTG said it would buy 6.3 billion tokens, but its price later declined.
Yorkville has used its traditional standby equity purchase deal model. These deals involve buying shares at a discount and selling them back when the company needs cash. A Wall Street veteran described this approach bluntly: “People used to call it death-spiral financing.” In July 2024, Yorkville agreed to buy up to $2.5 billion of TMTG stock at a 2.75% discount. Last year, it bought more than 20 million shares, raising about $450 million.
Yorkville has faced pressure and scrutiny before. The company was charged with fraud by the SEC in 2012 after a regulatory inquiry, though the case was dismissed six years later. Yorkville denies wrongdoing and has sharply criticized reporting about its business. A Yorkville executive said the company rejects “false and misleading characterisation” of its strategy and investors.
Yorkville’s hedge fund once generated $272 million in taxable income over three years before losing $352 million between 2009 and 2011 during the financial crisis, but an ongoing IRS dispute claims the company owes about $100 million in taxes and penalties.
Right now, Yorkville’s assets under management are around $323 million, according to claims made by the Financial Times.
Dominari grows alongside Trump sons’ crypto presence
Dominari entered the picture after its executive, Kyle Wool, met the Trump brothers at charity events at Long Island golf clubs about four years ago. Wool said Dominari focuses on “elegant solutions” for smaller companies looking to list or merge with SPACs. Dominari’s CEO, Anthony Hayes, stressed that the company works by hustling and pushing deals, not by political access. He said, “We hustle, we’re scrappy and we work incredibly hard.”
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr joined Dominari’s advisory board in February. Together, they hold about 12% of the company’s stock. A Dominari subsidiary, once called American Data Centers, rebranded as American Bitcoin when they joined.
The company listed through a reverse merger in what Wool called “record time, according to Nasdaq.” Eric Trump now has a stake worth over $300 million and sits on the board with his brother.
Dominari moved into Trump Tower in 2021 with only five employees, but has since grown to around 70 staff.
Since May 2023, its broker-dealer unit has worked on over 200 IPOs, follow-on offerings, and private placements, averaging one deal every three business days.
Deals expand into crypto, AI, defense, and longevity
Dominari advised a recent deal between Safety Shot, a healthcare company, and BONK.fun, a memecoin group. Safety Shot had previously been a large shareholder in SRM Entertainment, which merged with Tron, a crypto ecosystem owned by crypto billionaire Justin Sun, with Dominari assisting.
Dominari has also made early-stage investments in high-value private companies. These include defense contractor Anduril and AI company Databricks.
Wool said typical minimum checks of around $100 million at major banks were reduced to around $100,000 for investors participating through Dominari structures.
Dominari also backs xAI, founded by Elon Musk. Wool said he is up “probably 10x” on that investment. He said he is now focused on areas like quantum computing, rockets, and health and longevity companies. He said, “Powerful men have always wanted to live forever,” citing the first emperor of China as an example.
“People want to invest in that.”
Dominari’s stock rose 580% in the six weeks before the February filing announcing the Trump sons’ advisory roles. Revenue grew 520% in the quarter to June. The stock remains up about 350% this year, with a market value near $75mn.
A managing director at another U.S. investment bank summed up their position: “They’re uniquely positioned, with access to capital and strong relationships with the Trump sons.”
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