“Obviously they are close” to the Trumps, said Markus Thielen, chief executive officer of 10x Research. “But I don’t see how that necessarily helps them. It’s primarily an exchange. For the exchange, you need to drive more volume.”The contrast between the public image and the corporate performance tells a broader story about the crypto world in the Trump era, when wealth and access have little to do with business fundamentals. Going public will test how long the two can remain disconnected, and whether the ...