# Chase Herro Co-founder of [[World Liberty Financial]] (WLFI), the Trump family-controlled DeFi platform that operates as a sibling venture to the [[$TRUMP Memecoin Universe]]. Herro's prior crypto track record — including a flash-loan exploit at Dough Finance — makes him one of the most publicly flagged operators in the broader Trump crypto apparatus. ## Background - Self-described "dirtbag of the internet" — a persona built through crypto-trading [[YouTube]] content and Twitter/X performance. - Previously incarcerated on drug-related charges (reported by Fortune and DL News). - Ran **Pacer Capital** (defunct crypto trading firm) and **Dough Finance**, a DeFi protocol that suffered a ~$2.5M flash-loan exploit in July 2024. - Operated "mastermind" groups and paid crypto-trading seminars with [[Zak Folkman]] before WLFI. ## Role in World Liberty Financial - **Co-founder** (2024) with [[Zak Folkman]], Alex Witkoff, [[Zach Witkoff]], and Trump family members. - **Control shift:** Trump family took 60% control of WLFI via WLF Holdco LLC in January 2025. Herro's influence was reduced but he has not exited. - **Extraction:** Reporting indicates Herro and Folkman together extracted **$65M+** from initial WLFI token sales. ## Connection to the $TRUMP Memecoin Herro has no direct operational role in the $TRUMP Solana token (which runs through [[Fight Fight Fight LLC]] and [[CIC Digital LLC]]). The connection is ecosystem-level: - Same "Trump crypto umbrella" — WLFI and $TRUMP sit under the same family branding strategy. - Overlapping whale investors, especially [[Justin Sun]]. - Same deregulatory tailwinds (SEC under [[Paul Atkins]]). - Same Senate Democrat oversight attention (Warren/Schiff/Blumenthal letters). ## Why He Matters Herro is a documented figure in the "operators beneath the brand" layer of Trump-family crypto. His pre-WLFI history (Dough Finance exploit, persona-based marketing) is exactly the risk profile that traditional financial due-diligence processes exclude — but which the Trump family has normalized at the executive level of a protocol seeking an OCC bank charter. ## See Also - [[$TRUMP Memecoin Universe]] - [[World Liberty Financial]] - [[Zak Folkman]] - [[Zach Witkoff]] - [[Trump Crypto Ventures]]