A covert $500 million investment from the UAE into a Trump-linked cryptocurrency venture is raising alarms over transparency, foreign influence, and potential conflicts of interest.
Last Updated: February 11, 2026 at 9:35 PM UTC +1
Published: February 03, 2026 at 7:20 PM UTC +1
Human Written Content
Human Written Content
According to people familiar with the transaction and public records that news organizations had reviewed, a cryptocurrency company under the auspices of members of President Donald Trump’s family received an investment of $500 million from an entity associated with a senior United Arab Emirates national security official in the days before Trump’s inauguration. The investment gave a sizable equity stake to the UAE-linked group in the digital asset platform World Liberty Financial, a prominent player in the cryptocurrency and stablecoin space.
The deal was not announced at the time it closed and became widely known only after being reported by multiple outlets. The investment has attracted scrutiny in terms of timing, scale, and the identity of the investor. Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser, is a formidable figure who shapes the state’s intelligence authorities. He also wields a central influence over technology and the nation’s sovereign wealth investments.
Ethics scholars and government watchdogs say the deal brings questions of transparency and potential conflicts of interest, which is especially troubling as cryptocurrency is increasingly coupled with geopolitics and national security. World Liberty Financial has reported how the investment was a private commercial transaction, and no laws had been breached. Additionally, Trump supporters have claimed his private business interests are in the trust set up by his family, and that he has no role in operating it day-in-and-day-out. However, opponents say the arrangement exposes shortcomings in disclosure and oversight, particularly within the largely unregulated digital-asset market.
World Liberty Financial was launched as a crypto and decentralized-finance business with strong connections to Trump family members and longtime friends. The company has emphasized plans to create blockchain-based financial products, such as a dollar-pegged stablecoin, and other digital-asset products that would be marketed to retail and institutional users.
The firm hasn’t shared its financials, but the $500 million investment seems to place World Liberty Financial at a valuation of one of its more heavily capitalized political-adjacent crypto efforts in the space. The UAE-linked entity purchased close to half the company’s equity through an array of investment vehicles, according to people familiar with the deal. Because the transaction is layered — with multiple layers of entities — it is unclear how control and governance rights are allocated. Transparency advocates contend that crypto finance’s complexity is widespread, but can hide where and how large pools of capital come from and are influential.
Sheikh Tahnoun is one of the most powerful figures among the UAE, and is one of the highest security advisers and leaders in the UAE government. This includes his role in intelligence, cybersecurity, and strategic technological investment. His position here involves managing or guiding several state-backed investment funds that have invested billions of dollars into artificial intelligence and semiconductors, among other emerging technologies. The timing of the investment has drawn special scrutiny.
The deal was closed just moments before Trump reclaimed office. The incoming administration was readying to make actions that would shape U.S. technology policy, artificial-intelligence exports and relations with Gulf states, including the UAE. U.S. officials have rejected the association between the crypto investment and policies made, and there is no public evidence that the deal influenced government action. Yet, ethics experts note that the confluence of foreign government-linked cash and a business with ties to a sitting president raises familiar concerns.
“This is precisely the problem the emoluments clause and related ethics standards were crafted to protect from,” said one former government ethics lawyer, who warned that enforcement tools are still limited and heavily conditional to the will of the polity.
The debate over World Liberty Financial is symptomatic of larger issues in cryptocurrency regulation and political power. Unlike traditional financial institutions, few crypto firms function in regulatory gray areas, with fewer disclosure requirements and complex ownership structures that can stretch across multiple jurisdictions. Those traits, critics say, make crypto an attractive vehicle for politically charged investments.
Big capital inflows can funnel through offshore entities, foundations or special-purpose entities, making it more challenging for both regulators and the public to determine who has leverage and on what terms. Proponents of the industry argue that crypto companies are becoming more and more targeted by U.S. regulators and that foreign investment is widespread across sectors of the country’s technology industries. They claim that to focus on cryptocurrency is to unfairly stigmatize one field, which they characterize as a fast-moving industry. But the World Liberty Financial deal comes as lawmakers in both parties spar over tighter oversight of digital assets — which includes stablecoins — and regulators advocate for clearer rules around disclosure, governance and consumer protection.
World Liberty Financial has said in statements to the press that the investment demonstrates worldwide confidence in the company’s vision and technology. Representatives stressed the firm's adherence to the relevant laws and that the investment had been vetted by legal advisers. The president has no role in running the company, according to a spokesperson for Trump, and the company is held in a family-controlled trust, a defense that he has made earlier in Trump’s first term when the businessman’s business dealings also led to complaints about ethics. UAE officials have not publicly stated any detail regarding the investment, although representatives have described Sheikh Tahnoun’s technology investments as commercially motivated and concentrated on long-term innovation in the Gulf.
The deal is already starting to echo outside the crypto sector. Democratic lawmakers and independent watchdog groups have called for more disclosure, and, in some instances, a scrutiny of the transaction by Congress. Some have called on the administration to explain how it will deal through potential conflicts when foreign-linked investments linked to the president’s family are taken into account.
The investment also demonstrates the UAE’s increasing influence in global technology and finance. Abu Dhabi-backed funds have aggressively bet on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and digital assets, making the UAE a critical hub in new tech ecosystems. For critics, the World Liberty Financial deal shows how those ambitions are entwined with U.S. politics and how existing rules may not be sufficient to address them.
“Crypto didn’t raise these ethical questions,” one policy analyst said. “But it does make them more difficult to see, and therefore more difficult to regulate.”
It is uncertain how the investment will trigger formal inquiry or legislative action. Much of this will now hinge on whether additional facts are made known about the underlying business model of the deal, how much foreign meddling there is in company decisions, and whether there are any potential overlaps to U.S. policy outcomes. For now, the episode is part of a growing series of controversies at the nexus of cryptocurrency, foreign capital and political power — a place poised to receive more intense scrutiny as digital assets enter the financial core.
Level 2, ‘The Fort’, HardRocks Business Park, Burmarrad Road, Naxxar, NXR 6345
Crypto Casino is an independent platform providing unbiased information about online crypto casinos, games, and bonuses. We are not owned or operated by any gambling provider. All reviews, rankings, and guides are written by our expert team based on honest analysis and the latest available data.
Copyright©Crypto.Casino Ltd. 2026. All Rights Reserved
