Alt5 Sigma, the blockchain company partnered with Trump’s family-backed crypto platform World Liberty Financial, announced that its CEO, Peter Tassiopoulos, was suspended with pay on October 16, according to a new SEC filing released six days later.
The filing offered no explanation for the decision. Tassiopoulos, appointed CEO in September 2024, was credited at the time with bringing experience to “unlock shareholder value.”
Jonathan Hugh, the firm’s CFO since August, has taken over as acting CEO while retaining his current role.
Shares of Alt5 Sigma (NASDAQ: ALTS) have been in freefall, closing at $2.19 on the day of the suspension and $2.07 on Thursday — down 74% since its Trump crypto partnership was announced in August.
A Trump-Linked Crypto Bet Gone Sour
The company’s troubles follow its high-profile tie-up with World Liberty Financial (WLF), a Trump family crypto venture co-founded by Donald Trump and his three sons.
Alt5 Sigma agreed to build a $1.5 billion digital treasury of $WLFI tokens, the platform’s digital currency. Under the deal:
- WLF purchased 1 million Alt5 shares at $7.50 each, paying not in cash, but with $750 million in WLFI tokens, then priced at $0.20.
- The agreement included 99 million share warrants, potentially giving WLF major influence over Alt5.
- Eric Trump was set to join Alt5’s board but was later downgraded to board observer status to comply with Nasdaq rules.
A Trump-affiliated LLC reportedly owns 38% of World Liberty Financial, as well as 22.5 billion WLFI tokens, and is entitled to 75% of proceeds from token sales.
As of Thursday, WLFI was trading at $0.14268, valuing Alt5 Sigma’s holdings around $1 billion — though the firm’s market cap sits at just $227 million.
Silence From Both Sides
Neither Alt5 Sigma nor World Liberty Financial has commented on the CEO’s suspension.
Tassiopoulos has not responded to media requests, and the SEC filing provided no indication of misconduct or internal dispute.
The move comes amid heightened volatility for Trump-linked crypto ventures, as the broader digital asset market faces regulatory scrutiny and sharp price swings.
A Pattern of High-Risk Deals
Tassiopoulos previously led Sphere 3D Corp, a data management firm that planned to merge with Gryphon Digital — a deal that collapsed in 2022.
Ironically, Gryphon Digital later merged with American Bitcoin, another Trump-affiliated crypto-mining venture, cofounded by Eric Trump with Donald Trump Jr. as a major shareholder.
When American Bitcoin began trading in September, Eric Trump briefly reached billionaire status, according to Forbes.
What’s Next
Investors are now watching whether Alt5 will:
- Disclose the reason behind Tassiopoulos’s suspension,
- Permanently replace him, or
- Reassure markets about its partnership with World Liberty Financial.
The company’s share price and the value of $WLFI tokens could remain under pressure as questions mount over leadership stability, corporate governance, and the future of Trump’s crypto empire.
Alt5 Sigma’s suspension of its CEO without explanation — just months after tying its fate to Trump’s crypto network — highlights growing turbulence in the former president’s expanding digital asset ecosystem, where political branding, speculative markets, and plunging share prices are colliding once again.
