Author: Shenchao TechFlow
On October 22, 2026, according to a deep legal investigation by POLITICO, Joel Greenberg, a shareholder of Circle, the leading issuer of USD stablecoins, formally filed a shareholder derivative lawsuit in the U.S. federal court system against former U.S. President Trump and the official platform of his family-led decentralized finance project, World Liberty Financial.
The plaintiff alleges that Trump blatantly violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution by engaging in two highly opaque transactions linked to the UAE, worth billions of dollars, and improperly received substantial economic benefits from foreign governments through the use of public office without obtaining the required congressional approval.
According to the complaint filed with the court, the involved transactions amounted to $2.5 billion; the plaintiff is demanding that judicial authorities fully recover Trump’s personal profits from the transactions, compel full disclosure of all cryptocurrency assets and earnings from foreign sources, and seek unspecified civil damages.
Constitutional red line ignited: Foreign Emoluments Clause and two mysterious large payments in the UAE
The core allegation of the entire lawsuit directly touches the most punitive cornerstone of anti-corruption in the U.S. constitutional system.
The Foreign Emoluments Clause of Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly states that no person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States shall, without the consent of Congress, accept any present, emolument, office, or title from any king, prince, or foreign state. This clause is designed to prevent foreign sovereign capital from corrupting the highest levels of U.S. executive decision-making through economic incentives at the institutional level.
The complaint meticulously discloses two highly sensitive time points and transaction details.
The first transaction occurred before Trump's second term as president began; World Liberty Financial sold 49% of its company equity for $500 million, with the funding reportedly fully subscribed by entities with ties to the UAE's political and business sectors.
The second transaction was significantly larger, with a sovereign-backed investment fund established by the UAE government directly investing $2 billion to heavily subscribe to the digital asset shares issued under the Trump family's leadership.
The plaintiff stated that these two transactions, totaling $2.5 billion, not only directly generated millions of dollars in substantial profits for Trump personally and his family, but also leveraged the strong backing of foreign sovereign capital to provide massive market liquidity for the stablecoin issued by the family.
Derivative litigation showdown: Why are Circle shareholders challenging the White House?
Plaintiff Joel Greenberg holds approximately 10,000 shares of Circle Internet Group. As the core issuer of the compliant stablecoin USDC, Circle has long been subject to extremely stringent banking and anti-money laundering regulatory frameworks imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and financial regulators.
The complaint alleges that Trump used the power of the White House to directly channel foreign sovereign capital, artificially creating an profoundly unequal competitive advantage for his family-linked stablecoin project.
This rapid expansion of token supply through foreign government funding severely distorts the market ecosystem of U.S.-compliant stablecoins and creates unfair competition and potential commercial harm to domestic licensed institutions that adhere to proper regulatory pathways. Therefore, the plaintiffs have chosen to pursue a shareholder derivative suit against Circle, attempting to use judicial leverage to pierce through the overseas funding labyrinth of the Trump family’s crypto empire.
Legal Precedent and Political Turmoil: Standing and Conflicts of Interest in the Crypto Empire
In previous U.S. constitutional rulings, civil lawsuits alleging presidential violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause were common, but most were dismissed by federal courts due to plaintiffs' inability to demonstrate a concrete, legally recognized direct injury, resulting in issues of standing and jurisdiction.
In response to this lawsuit, both the White House communications team and the official team of World Liberty Financial have remained silent when asked about the matter and have not issued a formal comment.
It remains uncertain whether this complex shareholder derivative lawsuit will clear the initial threshold of plaintiff standing, but it has already plunged the Trump family into the intense conflict surrounding cryptocurrency commercialization, foreign sovereign capital infiltration, and regulatory self-dealing, bringing them squarely into the spotlight of bipartisan U.S. Congress and international public opinion.
The case has now officially entered the立案受理 procedure of the U.S. federal court, and the relevant jurisdictional issues and preliminary motion responses will become the next critical milestone in the parties' strategic contest.