U.S. President Donald Trump has constructed a enterprise empire spanning actual property, casinos and leisure. His household’s rising crypto dealings are actually going through mounting criticism over conflicts of curiosity and international affect.
A high United Arab Emirates official holds a stake within the household’s newest enterprise: a deliberate crypto financial institution now drawing scrutiny over international ties to a sitting President. The Wall Road Journal has reported that Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE’s nationwide safety adviser, and his co-investors personal a serious stake within the firm behind that financial institution.
Earlier this month, the Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money gave conditional approval to World Liberty Financial, backed by Mr. Trump’s household and shut allies, to arrange a federally chartered U.S. belief financial institution to problem, redeem and safeguard a dollar-backed stablecoin, USD1.
Mr. Tahnoon and his co-investors personal a 49% stake within the financial institution’s holding firm, the Journal reported. “The shareholder construction of the financial institution’s holding firm, referred to as WLTC Holdings, is identical as World Liberty’s, although Tahnoon and his co-investors used a distinct entity — referred to as StringZ Holding RSC — for the stake in WLTC. An entity affiliated with the Trump household holds a 38% stake,” the Journal stated, quoting a supply.
Mr. Tahnoon and others had invested $500 million in World Liberty Financial in January 2025. “The deal, signed 4 days earlier than President Trump’s inauguration, steered $263 million to Trump household entities, in line with the President’s most up-to-date monetary disclosure,” the Journal famous.
A stablecoin is designed to keep up a secure worth and cut back volatility. It’s pegged to a forex, commodity or different asset, which can be held in reserve to again its worth.
“USD1 now has a market worth of $4 billion. World Liberty says the {dollars} backing USD1 are invested in U.S. Treasury and different money equivalents, producing an estimated $150 million a yr in curiosity,” the Journal reported.
Mr. Trump was not at all times keen on cryptocurrencies. Throughout his first time period, he bashed Fb’s plans to create a digital forex. He dismissed Bitcoin and its friends as “not cash,” calling their worth “extremely risky and primarily based on skinny air”. In 2021, he informed Fox Enterprise that Bitcoin was a “rip-off”. “I believe they need to regulate them very, very excessive,” he stated, including, “It takes the sting off of the greenback and the significance of the greenback.”
Coverage shift
That modified because the 2024 election approached. Crypto firms funnelled greater than $119 million right into a non-partisan tremendous PAC to elect pro-crypto candidates in that cycle, and Mr. Trump vowed to make america the “crypto capital of the planet”.
In March 2025, Mr. Trump created the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by government order, treating Bitcoin as a long-term reserve asset on par with gold. That July, he signed the GENIUS (Guiding and Establishing Nationwide Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins) Act, laying out regulatory pointers for stablecoins.
Financial disclosures filed in June present he earned greater than $1.4 billion from his crypto ventures. Over $500 million of it from World Liberty Financial, and one other $635 million from gross sales of his $TRUMP meme coin. His reported earnings for the yr was over $2.2 billion, a lot increased than his 2024 earnings of $600 million.
Based in 2024, World Liberty Financial is on the coronary heart of the Trump’s crypto empire. Its CEO Zach Witkoff, is the son of Mr. Trump’s West Asia envoy, Steve Witkoff. Different co-founders embody Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Barron Trump, Steve Witkoff, and the President himself. This association may blur the road that separates governance and personal monetary pursuits. The Trump administration units coverage, and the President’s household and allies profit financially.
Mr. Tahnoon’s funding is very notable given the UAE’s place as a key U.S. companion in West Asia. For the reason that starting of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Gulf nations have borne a major share of Iran’s retaliatory assaults, with the struggle additionally disrupting maritime site visitors within the area.
These relationships elevate elementary questions: Can a sitting President settle for investments from a international authorities official in his firms?
Printed – August 30, 2026 01:40 am IST
