One of the most powerful figures in the United Arab Emirates is putting serious money behind the Trump family’s crypto venture. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who serves as the UAE’s national security adviser, helped facilitate funding for a 49% stake in the holding company behind World Liberty Financial’s planned US bank.
The deal, orchestrated through an entity called Aryam Investment 1, totaled $500 million and was signed around January 16, 2025, just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Following the money
Of the $500 million commitment, $250 million was paid upfront. Where that initial tranche landed tells a revealing story: roughly $187 million flowed to Trump family entities, while about $31 million went to entities linked to Steve Witkoff, a Trump ally and real estate developer who has served as a diplomatic envoy.
In exchange, Aryam and its affiliated technology group G42 secured two board seats at World Liberty Financial. The deal did not, however, include rights to revenue from WLFI governance tokens, which remain a benefit primarily captured by the Trump family.
Trump family entities retained approximately 38% equity in the holding company along with 22.5 billion WLFI governance tokens.
The Wall Street Journal first unveiled the details of the arrangement in February 2026, meaning it operated quietly for over a year before public scrutiny arrived.
A stablecoin empire and a bank charter
World Liberty Financial launched in late 2024 as a DeFi venture with close ties to the Trump family. Its flagship product is USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin that has grown considerably since launch.
By August 2026, USD1 reportedly reached a market valuation of approximately $4 billion, with daily trading volumes exceeding $1 billion.
The venture took another major step on August 14, 2026, when the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted WLF conditional approval for a national trust bank charter.
The geopolitical dimension
Sheikh Tahnoon chairs G42, the Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence firm that has pursued deep partnerships with US technology companies. He also serves as the UAE’s national security adviser, a role that places him at the intersection of intelligence, defense, and economic policy for one of Washington’s closest Gulf allies.
The timing of his WLF investment coincided with shifting US policies regarding AI technology access to the UAE, a dynamic that drew scrutiny from lawmakers. Representative Ro Khanna raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, questioning whether financial ties between UAE sovereign-linked entities and the Trump family could influence American technology and regulatory decisions.
WLF has maintained that the deal’s primary purpose is facilitating growth and that no Trump family members directly manage the venture’s operations post-inauguration.