Nic Carter Rejected Trump Crypto Venture After Steve Witkoff's DeFi Knowledge Gaps Emerged

According to New York magazine, Nic Carter reportedly declined a role as advisor to World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the Trump family crypto venture, following a 2024 Miami meeting with cofounder Steve Witkoff. Carter, an investor at Castle Island Ventures, said Witkoff could not explain the decentralized finance (DeFi) business or basic crypto concepts underlying the project.

Witkoff's primary concern was launching before the 2024 election, Carter told the publication. WLFI trades near $0.055 after hitting a record $0.3313 on its first day of open trading in September 2025, a 40% one-day drop. World Liberty has released only 20.8% of investor tokens to date, with the remainder locked until 2028. World Liberty disputed Carter's account.