Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan serves as nationwide safety advisor of the United Arab Emirates and president of the Abu Dhabi Funding Authority. By way of the entity Aryam Funding 1, he bought a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Monetary.
Eric Trump signed the contract on January 16, 2025, 4 days earlier than his father’s inauguration as US president. Of the preliminary 250 million greenback fee, 187 million flowed to Trump household entities. At the least 31 million went to corporations belonging to the household of Steve Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Monetary and concurrently US particular envoy for the Center East. A second tranche of 250 million dollars was due by July 15, 2025. As well as, two executives from G42, the sheikh’s AI firm, obtained board seats at World Liberty Monetary as half of the deal.
AI chips and political entanglements
Sheikh Tahnoon isn’t just an investor however a central determine in Abu Dhabi’s energy equipment. As chairman of G42, he leads one of essentially the most formidable AI corporations within the Gulf area. Simply 4 months after the crypto funding, the US authorities permitted the supply of 500,000 superior Nvidia chips per yr to the UAE. One-fifth of these, 100,000 chips yearly, goes to Tahnoon’s personal firm G42. This deal runs no less than till 2027, with a doable extension to 2030.
Personnel hyperlinks sharpen the optics additional. Witkoff, who as Center East envoy negotiates with the identical governments investing in World Liberty Monetary, was imagined to divest his holdings in accordance with his personal firm. But his August 2025 ethics disclosure nonetheless confirmed crypto holdings. He bought a 120 million greenback stake in an actual property firm however saved the crypto property. In the meantime, his son Alexander was soliciting billion-dollar investments from Center Japanese governments.
Billion-dollar income and locked tokens
World Liberty Monetary’s revenue construction favors the Trump household to an uncommon diploma. The household controls round 60 percent of the fairness and receives as much as 75 percent of income from token gross sales after bills. About 70 percent of the household’s stake belongs to a belief whose sole beneficiary is President Trump. In response to a Home Judiciary Committee report, the Trump household’s crypto holdings quantity to as a lot as 11.6 billion dollars. Within the first half of 2025 alone, over 800 million dollars flowed in from crypto asset gross sales.
For different traders, nevertheless, the image seems completely different. The WLFI token dropped round 60 percent from its all-time excessive of 0.33 dollars. Nonetheless, 80 percent of tokens stay locked, that means traders can not promote. On the primary buying and selling day, the worth crashed 40 percent. Co-founders Chase Herro and Zak Folkman however bought 65 million dollars in tokens. Herro, who known as himself the “Dirtbag of the Web,” beforehand bought “get-rich-quick” programs for 149 dollars per 30 days.
Reputational harm for the complete crypto trade
This entanglement of political energy and private crypto revenue burdens extra than simply World Liberty Monetary. Business specialists warn of reputational harm to the complete sector. Consequently, authentic blockchain tasks may turn out to be collateral harm. “Pump and dump” allegations in opposition to tasks within the president’s orbit make institutional adoption of crypto property more durable general.
A scientific sample emerges. Crypto.com confronted an SEC investigation, then donated 1 million dollars to the inauguration and 10 million to a MAGA tremendous PAC. Subsequently, the company dropped the investigation. After that got here a partnership with Trump Media worth roughly 1 billion dollars. Investigations into different corporations adopted an analogous trajectory.
For overseas actors, this opens a channel that bypasses conventional marketing campaign finance guidelines. People in different international locations who’re barred from making political donations beneath US legislation can funnel cash to the president by means of crypto ventures.
Democratic opposition
Democratic opposition to the Clarity Act ties on to Trump’s crypto dealings. Democrats proposed amendments that might have barred officeholders, together with the president, from collaborating within the crypto trade. Nevertheless, the Republican majority rejected all amendments. The progressive watchdog group Public Citizen dubbed the invoice the “Gryfto Invoice,” a portmanteau of “grift” and “crypto.”
Senator Booker spoke overtly of the president’s “grifting” and “gross corruption.” Senator Elizabeth Warren known as the UAE funding “corruption, plain and easy.” Rating Member Jamie Raskin put it much more bluntly: Donald Trump had turned the Oval Workplace into essentially the most corrupt crypto startup on the earth. Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott countered that ethics provisions didn’t belong within the Readability Act. As a consequence, crypto regulation may cross with out conflict-of-interest guidelines for the president himself.
Financial institution constitution and subsequent steps
World Liberty Monetary utilized for a nationwide belief financial institution constitution from the OCC, the US banking regulator, on January 7, 2026. Particularly, the applying considerations the issuance and custody of the USD1 stablecoin. OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould serves on the president’s pleasure. Senator Warren demanded a delay of the assessment till Trump divests his holdings. But the OCC declined.
The Readability Act has not but handed the Senate Banking Committee, and no new markup is scheduled. Consequently, the central piece of crypto laws stays blocked whereas the Trump household continues to revenue by means of World Liberty Monetary. The crypto foyer’s Fairshake tremendous PAC has 193 million dollars available for the 2026 midterms.
