Trump-Linked Crypto Firm AI Financial Buys Startup From 'Cannabis King' Advisor in Questionable Deal

AI Financial, a publicly traded crypto company with direct ties to the Trump family, has made a suspicious acquisition that smells like insider self-dealing. According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, AI Financial agreed last week to purchase Block Street, a crypto infrastructure startup owned by Matthew Morgan—one of AI Financial’s own advisors and its biggest shareholder.

Block Street was only incorporated in Nevada in late October 2025, making it a barely formed shell company. Morgan, known in business circles as the “cannabis king” for his past in building over $1 billion worth of marijuana ventures, claims he founded Block Street about 16 months ago. Despite no revenue generation, AI Financial is paying up to $43 million for it.

This move comes after AI Financial’s bizarre corporate journey. Formerly Alt5 Sigma, the company has pivoted wildly from biotech to fintech and now crypto. In August 2025, AI Financial struck a deal with World Liberty Financial, a Trump family crypto company, to hoard $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency on its balance sheet. In exchange, World Liberty Financial—linked to Donald Trump and his sons—received stock and board seats at AI Financial.

Morgan was briefly named AI Financial’s chief investment officer during this period but ended up only an unpaid advisor after internal reshuffling. He insists the Block Street deal isn’t self-dealing, claiming he shopped the startup to multiple public companies and rejected offers promising more than $100 million in potential upside. Yet the optics are damning: AI Financial is buying a startup from its own advisor for millions, while its stock has tanked over 90% amid a crypto market downturn.

Morgan’s ties to the Trump family crypto circle run deep. He met World Liberty Financial cofounders Chase Herro and Zak Folkman years ago and joined as an advisor when they launched the project in 2024. The Trump family was once publicly listed as cofounders of World Liberty Financial, underscoring the family’s direct involvement in this crypto grift.

Now styled as AI Financial’s “global head of vision,” Morgan says he’s working to revive the company’s plummeting stock and insists, “We’re going to turn this thing around quickly.” But the deal highlights a broader pattern of Trump-tied crypto ventures using public companies as vehicles for insider enrichment and speculative token schemes.

This isn’t an isolated case. Earlier this year, other crypto CEOs bought startups they partially owned through their public companies, sparking accusations of conflicts of interest and self-dealing. Activist investors have pushed back, warning shareholders against rubber-stamping deals where executives sit on both sides of the table.

AI Financial’s purchase of Block Street is the latest example of the Trump family’s crypto empire exploiting lax regulation and public markets to enrich insiders and prop up failing ventures. As the crypto market collapses, these schemes threaten to leave ordinary investors holding the bag while Trump and his circle cash in.

We’ll keep tracking the fallout from these deals and the Trump family’s ongoing efforts to turn the presidency into a pay-to-play crypto cash machine. Transparency and accountability demand nothing less.