Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan serves as national security advisor of the United Arab Emirates and president of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Through the entity Aryam Investment 1, he purchased a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial.
Eric Trump signed the contract on January 16, 2025, four days before his father's inauguration as US president. Of the initial 250 million dollar payment, 187 million flowed to Trump family entities. At least 31 million went to companies belonging to the family of Steve Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial and simultaneously US special envoy for the Middle East. A second tranche of 250 million dollars was due by July 15, 2025. In addition, two executives from G42, the sheikh's AI company, received board seats at World Liberty Financial as part of the deal.
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AI chips and political entanglements
Sheikh Tahnoon is not just an investor but a central figure in Abu Dhabi's power apparatus. As chairman of G42, he leads one of the most ambitious AI companies in the Gulf region. Just four months after the crypto investment, the US government approved the delivery of 500,000 advanced Nvidia chips per year to the UAE. One-fifth of those, 100,000 chips annually, goes to Tahnoon's own company G42. This deal runs at least until 2027, with a possible extension to 2030.
Personnel links sharpen the optics further. Witkoff, who as Middle East envoy negotiates with the same governments investing in World Liberty Financial, was supposed to divest his holdings according to his own firm. Yet his August 2025 ethics disclosure still showed crypto holdings. He sold a 120 million dollar stake in a real estate firm but kept the crypto assets. Meanwhile, his son Alexander was soliciting billion-dollar investments from Middle Eastern governments.
Billion-dollar profits and locked tokens
World Liberty Financial's profit structure favors the Trump family to an unusual degree. The family controls around 60 percent of the equity and receives up to 75 percent of revenue from token sales after expenses. About 70 percent of the family's stake belongs to a trust whose sole beneficiary is President Trump. According to a House Judiciary Committee report, the Trump family's crypto holdings amount to as much as 11.6 billion dollars. In the first half of 2025 alone, over 800 million dollars flowed in from crypto asset sales.
For other investors, however, the picture looks different. The WLFI token dropped around 60 percent from its all-time high of 0.33 dollars. Still, 80 percent of tokens remain locked, meaning investors cannot sell. On the first trading day, the price crashed 40 percent. Co-founders Chase Herro and Zak Folkman nevertheless sold 65 million dollars in tokens. Herro, who called himself the "Dirtbag of the Internet," previously sold "get-rich-quick" courses for 149 dollars per month.
Reputational damage for the entire crypto industry
This entanglement of political power and personal crypto profit burdens more than just World Liberty Financial. Industry experts warn of reputational damage to the entire sector. As a result, legitimate blockchain projects could become collateral damage. "Pump and dump" allegations against projects in the president's orbit make institutional adoption of crypto assets harder overall.
A systematic pattern emerges. Crypto.com faced an SEC investigation, then donated 1 million dollars to the inauguration and 10 million to a MAGA super PAC. Subsequently, the agency dropped the investigation. After that came a partnership with Trump Media worth roughly 1 billion dollars. Investigations into other companies followed a similar trajectory.
For foreign actors, this opens a channel that bypasses traditional campaign finance rules. Individuals in other countries who are barred from making political donations under US law can funnel money to the president through crypto ventures.
Democratic opposition
Democratic opposition to the Clarity Act ties directly to Trump's crypto dealings. Democrats proposed amendments that would have barred officeholders, including the president, from participating in the crypto industry. However, the Republican majority rejected all amendments. The progressive watchdog organization Public Citizen dubbed the bill the "Gryfto Bill," a portmanteau of "grift" and "crypto."
Senator Booker spoke openly of the president's "grifting" and "gross corruption." Senator Elizabeth Warren called the UAE investment "corruption, plain and simple." Ranking Member Jamie Raskin put it even more bluntly: Donald Trump had turned the Oval Office into the most corrupt crypto startup in the world. Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott countered that ethics provisions did not belong in the Clarity Act. As a consequence, crypto regulation could pass without conflict-of-interest rules for the president himself.
Bank charter and next steps
World Liberty Financial applied for a national trust bank charter from the OCC, the US banking regulator, on January 7, 2026. Specifically, the application concerns the issuance and custody of the USD1 stablecoin. OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould serves at the president's pleasure. Senator Warren demanded a delay of the review until Trump divests his holdings. Yet the OCC declined.
The Clarity Act has not yet passed the Senate Banking Committee, and no new markup is scheduled. Consequently, the central piece of crypto legislation remains blocked while the Trump family continues to profit through World Liberty Financial. The crypto lobby's Fairshake super PAC has 193 million dollars on hand for the 2026 midterms.
