An investment fund linked to UAE Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan has secretly acquired a 49% stake in the crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI), according to The Wall Street Journal.
On February 3, 2026, President Donald Trump stated that he was unaware of the Abu Dhabi entity's investments in WLFI.
“My sons are involved in this, my family is involved… I have enough on my plate with Iran, Russia, and Ukraine,” he said during a press conference at the White House.
On February 5, 2026, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna sent an official inquiry to the leadership of World Liberty Financial. Authorities are investigating the Trump crypto project's connections to foreign capital and potential conflicts of interest.
Lawmakers are demanding details on the $187 million transfer to the president's family entities and information on payments to co-founders. Additionally, questions have arisen regarding the role of the USD1 stablecoin in MGX's $2 billion investment in Binance.
There is also scrutiny over the potential involvement of WLF employees in discussions about pardoning Changpeng Zhao and national security risks related to AI chip exports.
The company is required to provide documents by March 1.
The deal was signed by Eric Trump in January 2025, just four days before his father's inauguration. The agreement was not publicly announced.
The buyer was Aryam Investment 1 from Abu Dhabi, controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon, the UAE's national security advisor and brother of President Mohammed bin Zayed.
Half of the total amount—$250 million—was paid upfront. Approximately $187 million went to Trump family companies (DT Marks DEFI LLC and DT Marks SC LLC), with at least $31 million directed to firms linked to co-founder Steve Witkoff.
After the deal closed, representatives from the Emirati AI conglomerate G42, led by Sheikh Tahnoon, became the largest external shareholders of the DeFi platform.
UAE Interests
The WSJ investigation revealed additional details about the UAE's involvement. A few weeks before the Trump administration announced the AI chip deal with the UAE, Sheikh Tahnoon's company MGX invested around $2 billion in Binance using the USD1 stablecoin from WLFI.
According to the investigation's authors, the deal effectively laid the groundwork for the launch of a “stablecoin.” World Liberty's project was overseen by a representative from G42, which is controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon.
The timing of these events raised concerns among Democrats. In September 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Elissa Slotkin called for an investigation into potential conflicts of interest, focusing on Steve Witkoff and David Sachs, a White House advisor on AI and cryptocurrency.
Lawmakers referenced a New York Times investigation documenting the timing of World Liberty's deals with UAE partners and concurrent negotiations by the Trump administration regarding the export of advanced microchips to the country.
Previously, G42 faced restrictions from the Biden administration due to concerns over ties to China. However, under Trump, the ban was lifted: in November 2025, the president approved the supply of computing power equivalent to 35,000 of the latest Nvidia GB300 processors.
In October, the Financial Times reported that the Trump family had earned over $1 billion from cryptocurrency projects.