AI Financial Corporation, the Nasdaq-listed company formerly known as ALT5 Sigma, is in talks to sell its core payments business for up to $15 million, marking a sharp reversal for a firm tied to the Trump family-linked crypto project World Liberty Financial.
Perpetuals.com said it has signed a non-binding term sheet to explore the potential acquisition of AI Financial’s profitable subsidiary, Alt5 Sigma Canada Inc. The company said it is conducting due diligence and that no final decision has been made. The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal under discussion would include $5 million in stock upfront, up to $10 million tied to performance, and the assumption or settlement of AI Financial’s debts.
The potential sale comes less than a year after AI Financial became closely associated with World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance project promoted by members of the Trump family. The company raised large sums to acquire WLFI tokens, turning its balance sheet and market narrative toward the Trump-linked crypto venture. That strategy initially attracted attention from crypto traders and political investors, but the financial outcome has since deteriorated sharply.
Reports said AI Financial’s shares have fallen more than 90%, while the value of its WLFI token holdings has declined about 70%. The company’s market value has reportedly dropped to around $80 million, underscoring the gap between the earlier crypto-linked fundraising narrative and the current value of its operating business.
A Payments Business Put on the Block
The proposed transaction centers on Alt5 Sigma Canada, the payments and transaction-processing unit that formed the core of AI Financial’s original business before its rebrand. Perpetuals.com, a blockchain company, said the acquisition could support its growth and complement its product roadmap, but emphasized that the term sheet is non-binding.
The valuation being discussed is striking because AI Financial had previously positioned itself as a bridge between payments, tokenization and AI-driven financial infrastructure. The company changed its Nasdaq ticker from ALTS to AIFC in April 2026 and said the rebrand reflected a broader strategic evolution. A sale of the payments subsidiary would leave questions about what remains of that strategy beyond its crypto treasury exposure and related digital-asset ambitions.
The talks also highlight the risk of combining a small public company with a highly volatile token strategy. When a company’s valuation becomes closely tied to a crypto asset, shareholders can be exposed to both operating-business risk and token-market volatility. In AI Financial’s case, the decline in WLFI and the collapse in its share price appear to have weakened the investment thesis that drove the earlier market interest.
For Perpetuals.com, the asset may be more attractive as a standalone payments infrastructure business than as part of a politically charged crypto-treasury vehicle. The reported structure, with most of the consideration tied to performance, suggests the buyer is seeking protection against operational or balance-sheet risks.
Trump Crypto Links Draw Scrutiny
The political dimension makes the transaction more sensitive than a normal fintech asset sale. World Liberty Financial has been promoted by members of the Trump family, and reporting has said Trump-related entities were entitled to a large share of WLFI token-sale proceeds. The Wall Street Journal reported that AI Financial’s WLFI purchases generated about $540 million in cash for Trump-related entities, even as later investors faced steep losses.
The White House and Trump representatives have previously denied conflicts of interest, arguing that President Donald Trump’s business interests are managed separately and that official actions are taken in the public interest. Still, the AI Financial episode adds to scrutiny over the overlap between political branding, public-company financing and crypto token sales.
The broader market impact is reputational rather than systemic. AI Financial is not large enough to threaten the wider crypto market, and the possible sale of its payments business is unlikely to affect major token prices. But the episode shows how quickly crypto-linked public-company strategies can unravel when token prices fall and operating businesses fail to support inflated valuations.
For investors, the lesson is that political visibility and crypto branding do not replace fundamentals. A company can raise capital around a high-profile token strategy, rebrand around AI and digital assets, and still be forced to sell its core business at a modest valuation if earnings, liquidity and market confidence deteriorate.
Until a binding agreement is announced, the transaction remains uncertain. But even the discussions point to a major reset for AI Financial. A business once promoted around payments, tokenization and Trump-linked crypto exposure may now be reduced to selling its original operating unit for a fraction of the capital raised during the height of its crypto pivot.
