Watchdog: Trump 9th Circuit Judicial Pick Eric Tung’s Deep Ties to Crypto Industry Could Benefit President’s Vast Crypto Empire

Washing D.C. – This month, President Trump announced his first Ninth Circuit judicial pick of his second term, Eric Tung, while neglecting to mention that Tung would be well-positioned to bolster the Trump family’s vast and sprawling crypto interests. 

A new analysis from government watchdog Accountable.US, first reported by Law360, highlights Tung’s career representing crypto firms seeking to avoid government regulation, including: serving as counsel for a stablecoin provider, representing the Blockchain Association in a brief opposing regulation of immutable smart contracts, representing an investment firm backing crypto companies where Tung argued for looser liability and less regulatory scrutiny on decentralized finance (DeFi) actors, and representing HDR Global Trading Limited, the owner and operator of the crypto-exchange, BitMEX.

At Issue: The Ninth Circuit covers Silicon Valley and has heard a series of crypto-related court cases in recent years. Trump’s estimated $2.9 billion crypto fortune, nearly 40% of his net worth, establishes a clear interest in crypto-friendly judicial appointments. The arguments made by Tung, calling for less regulation, would benefit the Trump family as they push for decentralized financial entities and crypto ETFs. Tung is poised to push back against the court’s liberal reputation, and was likely expected by the Trump administration to provide a vote for crypto deregulation in cases that come before him—a move that could have a measurable impact on the Trump family’s financial position.

Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk: “Since day 1 of his second term, Donald Trump has done all he can to remove barriers to padding his wealth from the White House through multiple crypto ventures, despite the high risk of corruption and foreign influence at the expense of American workers. Phase 2 of Trump’s self-enrichment plan is to further gut checks and balances by installing federal judges who share his view that no crypto regulation is good for business, especially his own. The President has nominated several far-right activists who will rubber-stamp his far-right political agenda. But with Eric Tung, the President is trying to kill two birds with one stone, a nominee who will go along with taking away fundamental rights from millions while also making it easier to put more money in his own pocket.”

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