UAE Firm Invests $100M in Trump-Backed Crypto Venture, Raising Regulatory Concerns
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the cryptocurrency firm with backing from U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, has announced a substantial investment from a United Arab Emirates-based company. The UAE firm has acquired $100 million worth of WLFI’s governance token, significantly boosting its stake in the platform.
The announcement came in a joint statement released Thursday by World Liberty Financial and the Aqua1 Foundation, a self-proclaimed “Web3-native fund.” According to the release, the $100 million investment aims to accelerate the development of a blockchain-driven financial ecosystem. The focus will be on Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization, stablecoin integration, and the broader advancement of blockchain infrastructure. The partnership seeks to redefine capital efficiency on a global scale.
With this investment, Aqua1 becomes the largest WLFI tokenholder, surpassing Tron founder Justin Sun, who previously invested $30 million in the project in November 2024.
“Aqua1 and WLFI will work together to discover and grow high-potential blockchain initiatives,” said Dave Lee, founding partner of Aqua1. “The WLFI USD1 ecosystem and its RWA initiatives represent a multi-trillion-dollar structural pivot opportunity. We aim to catalyze a future where decentralized finance converges with traditional capital markets to reshape the global financial system.”
However, this expansion of WLFI’s influence has not gone unnoticed by U.S. lawmakers. The Trump family’s direct involvement—Trump’s three sons are listed as co-founders—has drawn increased scrutiny. In a June financial disclosure, President Trump reported $57.4 million in income connected to WLFI and personally holds 15.75 billion governance tokens.
Growing Scrutiny Amid Stablecoin Legislation Push
Regulatory concerns surrounding WLFI intensified in May when Eric Trump revealed that Abu Dhabi-based MGX Investment Group would use WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin to process a $2 billion investment into Binance. The move raised ethical questions as it coincided with Congress debating legislation related to payment stablecoins.
Democratic lawmakers have expressed apprehension that the president could be leveraging his position to advance legislation beneficial to his family’s crypto interests. These concerns came to light again during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, where U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi deflected a question from Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley regarding potential conflicts of interest tied to World Liberty Financial.
“It’s critical that the head of the Justice Department be vigilant about foreign influence,” Merkley said. “I urge you to take this seriously. This isn’t a partisan issue—Democrats and Republicans alike believe that Americans should be making decisions in the national interest, not under the influence of foreign capital funneled through crypto assets.”
Lawmakers have since proposed several legislative avenues to prevent conflicts of interest within the digital asset industry. These include revisions to the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, and separate bills to prohibit sitting presidents and other high-ranking officials from investing in or profiting from digital assets while in office.
