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★ Private Action

UAE firm uses $2B Trump-Witkoff stablecoin for Binance stake

AI Chip Export PolicyTrump Crypto ConflictsTrump PardonsUAE-Trump Nexus

Filed May 2025$2,000,000,000

★ The Brief

What happened

Sheikh Tahnoon — the UAE national security adviser who oversees roughly $1.5 trillion in sovereign assets — directed a state-controlled fund to settle a $2 billion Binance investment using World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin, parking the matching $2 billion in WLF reserves.

Who enabled it

Who benefits

Deal or steal?

Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, co-founded WLF with the Trump family and had not yet divested at the time of the $2 billion transaction. The same month, Treasury launched a fast-track CFIUS pilot Tahnoon had lobbied for.

In May 2025, Zach Witkoff announced at a conference in Dubai that an investment firm controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan — the UAE's national security adviser and sovereign wealth manager overseeing approximately $1.5 trillion in assets — would deposit $2 billion into World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency start-up co-founded by the Witkoff and Trump families. The announcement instantly made World Liberty Financial one of the world's most prominent crypto companies and gave it a revenue stream that analysts estimated could be worth tens of millions of dollars annually. Steve Witkoff, Zach's father and Trump's Middle East envoy, had not yet divested from World Liberty at the time of the investment, according to a disclosure document made public in August 2025.

Actors

Who pushed it · 4

Who initiated, paid, or pushed the action.

  • Changpeng Zhao
    Changpeng Zhao

    Binance founder whose stake in the exchange MGX acquired with $2 billion of WLF's USD1 stablecoin; later pardoned by Trump in October 2025.

  • Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan
    Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan

    Directed UAE sovereign wealth investment firms under his control to deposit $2 billion into World Liberty Financial, a crypto company co-founded by the families of Trump's Middle East envoy and the president himself.

    Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan has paid into Trump’s orbit:

  • Binance
    Binance

    Crypto exchange whose 49% stake purchase by MGX was settled with $2 billion of World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin.

  • MGX
    MGX

    Abu Dhabi AI investment firm chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon that used $2 billion of World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin to settle its acquisition of a 49% stake in Binance.

Beneficiaries

Who gained · 4

Who stood to gain.

  • Donald Trump
    Donald Trump

    Co-founder of World Liberty Financial through the Trump family; benefited financially from the $2 billion UAE investment as a stakeholder in the company.

  • Steve Witkoff
    Steve Witkoff

    Co-founder of World Liberty Financial through the Witkoff family; held a financial interest in the firm at the time of the UAE investment despite announced plans to divest, according to an August 2025 disclosure document.

  • Zach Witkoff
    Zach Witkoff

    Publicly announced the $2 billion UAE investment at a Dubai conference in May 2025 and held a stake in World Liberty Financial as a co-founder alongside the Trump family.

  • World Liberty Financial
    World Liberty Financial

    Received a $2 billion investment from a UAE sovereign wealth firm controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon, propelling it into one of the world's most prominent crypto companies.

Sources

Further reading