A UAE official holds the biggest stake in Trump's family crypto bank venture

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Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and co-investors own 49% of the holding company for World Liberty Financial's planned trust bank

President Donald Trump outside the White House. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' national security advisor and brother of its president, holds the largest ownership stake in the holding company created to house the Trump family's planned crypto bank, according to The Wall Street Journal.

StringZ Holding RSC, an entity backed by Tahnoon and co-investors, holds a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings, the holding company for World Liberty Financial's banking venture, according to CNBC. An entity affiliated with the Trump family owns an additional 38% of WLTC Holdings.

World Liberty received preliminary conditional approval this month from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter a federally regulated national trust bank. Its mandate would include issuing, redeeming, and holding USD1, World Liberty's dollar-backed stablecoin, though the institution must first meet several additional requirements before commencing operations.

Critics have raised concerns about the deal given that Tahnoon holds a position in a foreign government while the Trump administration has simultaneously been negotiating with the UAE over access to advanced U.S. artificial-intelligence chips. G42, a UAE government-linked AI firm under Tahnoon's control, was cleared to receive chip sales from U.S. suppliers, and the administration further loosened purchasing caps on those chips last month, according to the outlet.

This is not the first financial connection between Tahnoon and World Liberty. That earlier transaction, completed in January 2025 as Trump was returning to the White House, saw Tahnoon and fellow investors commit $500 million to World Liberty Financial in exchange for a 49% ownership share in the crypto firm. That deal directed $263 million to Trump family entities, according to Trump's 2025 annual financial disclosure.

World Liberty spokesman David Wachsman characterized the firm as "a private American financial technology company, not a political organization," noting that the trust company operates under its own distinct governance structure. "No one at World Liberty works for the U.S. government and there are no conflicts of interest," Wachsman said, adding that the company neither seeks nor receives special treatment. He did not address the reported ownership structure. 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."

The crypto bank deal is part of a broader pattern of foreign investment in Trump's business interests since he returned to office. Foreign licensing deals alone brought Trump's businesses a minimum of $59.5 million across his second term's opening year.

World Liberty has drawn scrutiny on other fronts as well. The venture has been collaborating with WorldClaw, a Hong Kong-based AI platform that offers models from Chinese technology companies the Trump administration has flagged for national security and intellectual property concerns, according to Reuters. World Liberty token sales have brought the Trump family more than $1.4 billion, a portion of the roughly $2.3 billion the family has accumulated through crypto overall.

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