Russian-linked DWF Labs buys $25M in Trump crypto tokens

On April 16, 2025, UAE-based crypto market-maker DWF Labs announced it had purchased $25 million in World Liberty Financial governance tokens (WLFI) in a "strategic private transaction," and was opening a New York City office. The $25 million USDC transfer to WLF was identified on-chain by blockchain analysts on April 4, twelve days before the announcement. Because WLFI tokens are non-transferable and non-sellable, The Nation characterized the purchase as "essentially a donation" to the Trump-family-controlled DeFi protocol; DWF managing partner Andrei Grachev told reporters, "It cannot be a scam, right? And we have to invest." DWF Labs has been documented by the Wall Street Journal and The Block as engaging in market manipulation and "price management" services rather than legitimate market-making; Binance internally concluded DWF was artificially inflating token volumes to drive up prices. Grachev was convicted of fraud by a Moscow criminal court in 2015 (cargo-theft scheme, suspended three-year sentence, five-year probation) and is alleged to have run three failed crypto ventures during probation (Shoptimizer, B2B United Trade, Export.Online) in which investors collectively lost millions of rubles. His prior institutional roles tie him to Russian state banks VEB and VTB via the RACIB industry group (founded by Putin adviser German Klimenko) and VRM Trade co-founders. DWF Labs also said it would provide liquidity for USD1, the Trump-family stablecoin behind WLF's $2 billion MGX/Binance deal. In May 2025, Senator Richard Blumenthal sent WLF an inquiry letter specifically flagging that "DWF Lab's management previously managed Russian firms accused of enabling Russian banks to bypass sanctions"; Accountable.US filed a Congressional complaint the prior month, and 36 members of Congress demanded a DOJ investigation, which DOJ declined to address.