UAE 'spy sheikh' backs 49% stake in Trump family's crypto bank

An entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE's national security advisor, owns 49% of WLTC Holdings, the holding company for World Liberty Financial's proposed trust bank, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

World Liberty spokesman David Wachsman called the firm "a private American financial technology company, not a political organization" and said its trust company has separate governance. "No one at World Liberty works for the U.S. government and there are no conflicts of interest," he said, adding that the company neither seeks nor receives special treatment.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval on Aug. 14 for a federally chartered national trust bank that would issue, redeem and safeguard USD1, World Liberty's dollar-backed stablecoin. The stablecoin has a market value of roughly $4 billion, with assets held in U.S. Treasurys and other cash equivalents generating an estimated $150 million annually in interest, according to the Journal.

The arrangement has drawn scrutiny because Tahnoon is a foreign government official while the Trump administration has negotiated with the UAE over access to advanced U.S. AI chips. The administration approved chip sales to G42, a UAE state-backed AI company controlled by Tahnoon, and last month eased limits on how many chips it could purchase.

StringZ Holding RSC, the entity backed by Tahnoon and co-investors, holds the 49% stake in WLTC Holdings. A Trump family-affiliated entity owns an additional 38%. The bank must satisfy additional conditions and pass an OCC examination before beginning operations.

This is not the first financial connection between Tahnoon and World Liberty. In January 2025, the month Trump began his second term, Tahnoon and fellow investors committed $500 million to World Liberty Financial in exchange for a 49% ownership share. That deal directed $263 million to Trump family entities, according to Trump's 2025 annual financial disclosure.

A widening web of Gulf investments

The crypto bank deal is part of a broader pattern of foreign investment in Trump's business interests since he returned to office. Trump's businesses generated at least $59.5 million in foreign licensing revenue during the first year of his second term, CNBC previously reported. In June, the president revealed that his family's cryptocurrency businesses brought in $1.4 billion last year.

World Liberty CEO Zach Witkoff, the son of Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, said the company aims "to build the most trusted and widely used digital dollar in the world."

The White House did not respond to CNBC's request for comment but has previously said Trump "only acts in the best interest of the American public" and denied that he has conflicts of interest.

The reported ownership structure places a foreign government official in the ownership chain of a federally chartered U.S. bank at a time when the administration is making decisions that directly affect UAE commercial interests. The OCC's preliminary approval does not constitute a final charter, and the bank must clear pre-opening requirements before it can operate. The outcome will test whether U.S. banking regulators treat the arrangement as a routine ownership matter or as a conflict requiring additional scrutiny.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.