President Donald Trump’s affinity for real estate-themed games dates back decades. In 1989, the property developer released “Trump: The Game,” his own variation of the classic Monopoly board game. Later, in 2006, he explored creating a Monopoly-inspired reality television show. “I’ve always thought Monopoly was an amazing game,” Trump told the New York Post when discussing the television concept, which ultimately never materialized.
Now, according to multiple sources familiar with the project, Trump is venturing into the digital gaming realm with a blockchain-based real estate game that draws inspiration from the property-trading mechanics that made Monopoly a household name.
The New Crypto Gaming Venture
The planned crypto game represents the latest addition to a rapidly expanding portfolio of blockchain ventures connected to Trump and his family. This growing digital empire already includes multiple NFT collections, a memecoin, a decentralized finance platform called World Liberty Financial, a stablecoin, and a Bitcoin mining operation in which the President’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., hold significant stakes.
According to a source with knowledge of the project who spoke to Fortune on condition of anonymity due to the private nature of the business dealings, the game will function similarly to “Monopoly Go!” – a mobile game where players accumulate in-game currency by moving pieces around a digital board to construct buildings in a virtual cityscape. A second independent source, also speaking anonymously, corroborated this description, comparing the project to Monopoly.
Both sources identified Bill Zanker, a longtime Trump associate who previously collaborated with the President on his memecoin and NFT collections, as the driving force behind this new gaming venture.
When contacted by Fortune, Kevin Mercuri, who serves as Zanker’s spokesperson, denied specific comparisons to “Monopoly Go!” while confirming that Zanker is indeed developing a “game” with plans for a late April launch. Mercuri characterized the Monopoly comparison as “hearsay” but did not provide alternative details about the game’s mechanics or design.
Hasbro, the company that owns and produces the original Monopoly board game, stated it has not licensed its intellectual property to any Trump-affiliated organization for a cryptocurrency project.
Development Timeline and Trademark Activity
According to one source, Zanker had initially planned to release the game before Trump’s inauguration for his second term. In May 2024, Zanker reportedly approached Hasbro about reacquiring the license for “Trump: The Game,” the Trump-branded version of Monopoly from the late 1980s. However, the company informed Zanker that it no longer held the rights to the decades-old game.
Mercuri did not respond to inquiries about the game’s development timeline when contacted by Fortune.
The development of a Trump-branded crypto game aligns with broader trademark activity surrounding the President’s name in the digital asset space. In late February, DTTM Operations, the entity responsible for managing Trump’s trademarks, filed applications to apply Trump’s name to various crypto products, including virtual clothing-related NFTs and an online retail store for virtual goods. When asked whether these trademark filings were connected to the new crypto game project or how blockchain technology would be incorporated into the game, Mercuri provided no response.
Blockchain Gaming Context
The integration of Trump’s brand into the blockchain gaming space comes as no surprise to industry observers. For years, the cryptocurrency sector has attempted to merge blockchain technology with video games, creating experiences where in-game assets have real-world value through tokenization.
Perhaps the most notable example of this trend is Axie Infinity, a game that transformed playable characters into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and rewarded users with cryptocurrency for gameplay activities. The concept of “play-to-earn” gaming gained significant traction during the cryptocurrency boom, though many such projects struggled during market downturns.
Trump’s entry into this space represents a high-profile endorsement of blockchain gaming concepts by a sitting U.S. president, potentially bringing increased attention to an industry segment that has faced both enthusiasm and skepticism.
Conflict of Interest Questions
The steady rollout of Trump-connected cryptocurrency ventures has prompted numerous conflict-of-interest allegations. While the President’s sons and the Trump Organization deepen their involvement in the cryptocurrency sector, Trump has signaled a significant shift in U.S. policy toward digital assets. He has appointed an AI and cryptocurrency czar, authorized the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin and digital assets reserve, and advocated for cryptocurrency legislation.
When questioned about these potential conflicts in a separate interview with Fortune regarding his Bitcoin mining venture, Eric Trump rejected such allegations: “This is something that our family believes,” he stated regarding cryptocurrency. “It’s something our family speaks about with our heart and soul.”
Bill Zanker: The Man Behind the Project
Bill Zanker, the driving force behind Trump’s crypto gaming venture, has a colorful entrepreneurial history spanning decades. In the 1980s, at the age of 70, Zanker reportedly took $5,000 in bar mitzvah money and founded the Learning Annex, an unconventional educational business that offered adults courses on eclectic topics ranging from “How to Cheat on Your Spouse” to “Hot Air Ballooning” and “Firewalking.”
The connection between Zanker and Trump began in 2001 when Zanker invited Trump to give a presentation at the Learning Annex. This initial professional interaction eventually led to the pair co-authoring a book about achieving success.
Their business relationship temporarily paused when Trump campaigned for his first presidential term in 2015. However, approximately seven years later, Zanker approached Trump with a proposal to launch NFT collections featuring the real estate mogul’s likeness, according to multiple reports. Trump agreed to the venture, resulting in a series of digital collectibles depicting the then-former president in various fantastical roles, including a superhero, an astronaut, and a cowboy.
According to three sources familiar with the project, Zanker has also been instrumental in the development of Trump’s memecoin. Documentation obtained by Fortune shows Zanker listed on the certificate of formation for FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT LLC, an entity associated with the cryptocurrency.
Despite his central role in these high-profile crypto ventures, Zanker has maintained a relatively low public profile regarding these activities, declining multiple interview requests from media outlets including Fortune.
The Broader Implications
Trump’s expanding cryptocurrency portfolio represents a significant convergence of political power and digital asset development. As the first U.S. president to actively participate in the cryptocurrency ecosystem through family businesses while in office, Trump’s ventures raise important questions about the intersection of public policy and private interests in the rapidly evolving blockchain sector.
The forthcoming crypto game, with its reported Monopoly-inspired mechanics, may serve as a test case for how presidential branding can influence adoption in the digital asset space. By leveraging Trump’s well-established real estate persona and translating it into a blockchain gaming environment, Zanker appears to be attempting to bridge traditional Trump brand associations with cutting-edge technology.
For the cryptocurrency industry, which has sought mainstream legitimacy and adoption for years, the direct involvement of a sitting U.S. president’s brand represents both an opportunity for increased visibility and potential regulatory complications. How regulators and market participants respond to these developments could have lasting implications for the blockchain gaming sector and cryptocurrency projects with political connections.
As the planned late April launch approaches, observers from both the political and cryptocurrency spheres will be watching closely to see how this unique intersection of presidential branding, blockchain technology, and gaming mechanics unfolds in an already volatile digital asset landscape.
Acknowledgment: This article was written with the help of AI, which also assisted in research, drafting, editing, and formatting this current version.
