U.A.E. firm bought 49% stake in Trump family crypto company, Times reports

An Emirati-backed investment firm purchased a 49 percent stake in the Trump family’s cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, in a $500 million deal signed days before President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, The New York Times reported on Sunday, confirming an earlier Wall Street Journal account and a statement from World Liberty spokesman David Wachsman.

The agreement, Mr. Wachsman said, gave the Emirati-backed firm a 49 percent stake and included board seats for two top lieutenants to the U.A.E.’s national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Asked about the terms, timing and size of the investment, Mr. Wachsman said, “We made the deal in question because we strongly believe that it was what was best for our company as we continue to grow.” Representatives for Sheikh Tahnoon did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the article says.

The Times reported that the U.A.E. transactions with World Liberty included a separate disclosure in Dubai in May that MGX, a company run by Sheikh Tahnoon, was using $2 billion worth of a World Liberty stablecoin for a large investment. That move made World Liberty one of the world’s largest issuers of stablecoins and was described as poised to generate tens of millions of dollars a year in revenue for the company.

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