Trump-affiliated crypto firm AI Financial to acquire Block Street for up to $43 million.

AI Financial (formerly Alt5 Sigma), a publicly traded crypto company associated with the family of US President Donald Trump, announced it will acquire crypto infrastructure startup Block Street for up to $43 million. Block Street was founded by current advisor Matthew Morgan, who also serves as its CEO and largest shareholder. According to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the deal was finalized last Monday. Block Street is registered in October 2025, but Morgan stated its operations began approximately 16 months ago. This acquisition has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, as Morgan is both an advisor to AI Financial and the founder of the acquired company. He was briefly nominated as chief investment officer in AI Financial's deal with World Liberty Financial, but his position was subsequently downgraded to an unpaid advisor. In August, AI Financial reached an agreement with World Liberty Financial to add approximately $1.5 billion in crypto assets to its balance sheet and acquire equity and board seats. This partnership also places the company within the "Trump family crypto ecosystem." In an interview, Morgan denied that the transaction constituted a self-dealing transaction, stating that Block Street focuses on tokenization and ICO infrastructure capabilities, while AI Financial is seeking to enter these areas. He stated that he had pitched the asset to several publicly traded companies and rejected acquisition offers with higher valuations. However, since becoming associated with the Trump family's crypto projects, AI Financial's stock price has fallen by more than 90%, reflecting continued market skepticism towards this type of "crypto reserve-based publicly traded company" model. This transaction has also reignited controversy surrounding internal transactions and governance structures within publicly traded companies. Similar cases have recently emerged in the crypto industry, including several publicly traded companies being criticized for mixing assets with related-party transactions, raising investor concerns about conflicts of interest. (Fortune)