UAE-Backed Fund Agreed to Buy 49% of Trump’s Crypto Firm
What Did the Wall Street Journal Report?
A UAE-backed investment vehicle agreed to purchase nahead half of World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency beginup tied to President Donald Trump, shortly before he returned to the White House, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The deal, which had not been publicly disclosed at the time, was signed in January 2025 and valued the company at roughly $1 billion.
The Journal reported that Aryam Investment 1, an Abu Dhabi entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, agreed to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million. About half of that amount was paid upfront, with $187 million flowing to entities controlled by the Trump family. Additional tens of millions were directed to companies linked to World Liberty’s co-founders, including relatives of US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
The agreement was reportedly signed by Eric Trump. Despite the size of the transaction, the Journal said it was not publicly announced, even as World Liberty later disclosed that the had dropped sharply.
Investor Takeaway
Why Sheikh Tahnoon’s Role Matters
Sheikh Tahnoon, the brother of the UAE president and the country’s national security adviser, has been a central figure in Abu Dhabi’s drive to build influence in advanced technology, particularly artificial intelligence. Under the Biden administration, his efforts to secure access to US-made AI chips faced limits amid concerns over potential technology leakage to China, including through firms such as G42.
That backdrop changed later than Trump’s election. The Journal reported that Tahnoon held multiple meetings with Trump and senior US officials, later than which the administration moved toward granting the UAE access to hundreds of thousands of advanced AI chips each year. The timing has drawn attention to Tahnoon’s expanding footprint across both technology and .
As part of the World Liberty transaction, executives from G42 reportedly assisted manage Aryam Investment 1 and took board seats at the crypto beginup, making Aryam its largest outside shareholder. The Journal also noted that weeks before a US-UAE framework on AI chips was announced, another Tahnoon-led firm, MGX, used World Liberty’s stablecoin to complete a $2 billion investment into Binance.
How World Liberty Has Responded
World Liberty Financial and the White House have denied any wrongdoing related to the deal. According to the Journal, spokespeople said President Trump was not involved in the transaction and that it did not grant the firm any influence over US policy.
Even so, the structure of the deal has fueled debate over transparency and . World Liberty’s ownership framework gives Trump family-linked entities control over most token revenue, meaning proceeds from token sales largely flow to the president’s family. Critics argue that this setup blurs the line between private business activity and public office.
The combination of foreign capital, political ties, and digital assets places World Liberty at the center of a broader discussion about how crypto ventures intersect with national security, foreign policy, and financial oversight.
Investor Takeaway
Why Lawmakers Are Calling for US Probes
Concerns around World Liberty did not begin with the Aryam investment. Last year, Democratic senators urged US authorities to examine alleged links between the firm’s token sales and sanctioned foreign actors. In a November letter to the Justice Department and Treasury, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed pointed to claims that WLFI governance tokens were purchased by blockchain addresses connected to , as well as entities linked to Russia and Iran.
Those allegations remain unproven, but they have added pressure on regulators to review how governance tokens are sold, who can participate, and how proceeds are distributed. Lawmakers argue that when a sitting president’s family benefits directly from token revenue, the stakes are higher than in a typical crypto fundraising effort.
The Journal’s reporting has amplified those concerns by tying World Liberty’s ownership and funding more closely to geopolitical developments, including US-UAE relations and technology policy. For regulators, the case raises questions about whether existing disclosure and compliance rules are adequate when crypto firms sit at the crossroads of finance, politics, and foreign investment.
What This Means Going Forward
The Aryam deal places under a sharper spotlight at a moment when crypto regulation remains unsettled in the United States. Calls for investigations could result in closer review of token sales, ownership structures, and foreign involvement, particularly where sanctioned jurisdictions are cited.
