In May of 2024, Miami investor and motivational speaker Jonathan Lopez invested close to $1 million into Dough Finance. The platform took off for streamlining dangerous crypto tactics such as “looping,” whereby users borrowed repeatedly against holdings to compound trades. Herro, one of co-founders, brought Lopez to the idea directly, persuading him to venture into this high-reward, high-risk strategy.
The venture turned sour on July 12, 2024, when unknown hackers stole $2.5 million from Dough Finance. Lopez’s entire crypto deposit, which stood at nearly 300 ether tokens, valued at well over $830,000 at the time of hacking, disappeared. Although the platform promised to compensate affected users, most, including Lopez, never got their money back.
Just two months after the collapse of Dough, Herro and co-founder Zak Folkman launched World Liberty Financial with new backers. Former President Donald Trump and his sons Don Jr., Eric, and Barron joined as figureheads, assuming titles like “Chief Crypto Advocate” and “Web3 Ambassadors.” Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, helped introduce the duo to the Trump family, who reportedly admired their decentralized finance pitch.
Lopez sues herro over Crypto fraud
In January 2025, Lopez sued Herro for fraud, misrepresentation, and securities fraud. The court ordered a trial to begin in April 2026 in Miami, where Lopez is seeking damages and attorney’s fees. Herro’s attorneys dismissed the lawsuit, saying Lopez was a sophisticated investor who was well aware of crypto risks.
Despite assurances to repay its investors, Dough recovered only $281,000 of stolen money, sharing a sliver of it among users. The platform issued its tokens as alternatives to reimbursement later, but users argue these are worthless since no further recoveries were made. Few of the affected investors received any response, and Dough’s site remains locked and has no recoverable assets.
Herro and Folkman, who were once internet hustlers, now reap success from World Liberty, earning an estimated $65 million, according to reports. The Trump’s cut of that token sale is up to close to $400 million, which reflects increasing questions about how crypto projects become entangled in political power and legal ambiguity.
