According to The Wall Street Journal, Tahnoon Ben Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's National Security Advisor, and his co-investors are the financiers behind the largest external shareholders of Trump family's proposed crypto banking project. Just as the project received preliminary conditional approval for a federal banking license from the United States, this equity arrangement immediately attracted attention.
49% of the shares come from related entities.
The report cites documents stating that StringZ Holding RSC holds 49% of the shares in WLTC Holdings, while WLTC Holdings is the holding company of the proposed bank World Liberty Financial. Tahnoon and his co-investors are alleged to be the financiers behind StringZ.
The Trump family-related entities hold an additional 38% of the shares, which is represented by WLTC Holdings. With this structure, the Tahnoon side becomes one of the most important shareholders of the holding company, further deepening their financial connection with the Trump family's cryptocurrency business.
Previously invested in World Liberty
The report mentioned that Tahnoon and other investors had previously invested $500 million in World Liberty Financial in January 2025, acquiring 49% of the shares in that crypto company. This transaction occurred in the same month that Trump began his second term.
According to Trump's 2025 annual financial disclosure documents, approximately $263 million flowed to entities related to the Trump family. CNBC Previously, it was also reported that in the first year of his second term, Trump's business network received at least $59.5 million in overseas licensing revenue.
License approval and USD1 are advanced in sync.
The Federal Reserve Board of the United States has granted preliminary conditional approval this month for World Liberty to establish a federal chartered national trust bank. If subsequent conditions are met, this bank will be responsible for issuing, redeeming, and managing its dollar-stabilized currency USD1.
This means that the project has extended from its focus on cryptocurrency business to include banking and stablecoin infrastructure under federal regulation, as a result of which its equity structure, sources of funding, and external relationships are subject to more stringent scrutiny.
Intersects with the AI chip policy
Another layer of context to the controversy is that Tahnoon is both an investment stakeholder and a senior government official in the United Arab Emirates. At the same time, the Trump administration is making decisions regarding matters such as the UAE's acquisition of advanced AI chips from the United States.
The report mentions that the U.S. government has approved the sale of chips to a UAE state-owned company AI. G42 is controlled by Tahnoon, and last month, the U.S. government also relaxed the restrictions on the number of chips that the company is allowed to purchase.
World Liberty Spokesperson David Wachsman stated that the company is a private financial technology firm based in the United States, not a political organization, and its trust company has an independent governance structure. He mentioned that no one from the company holds any positions in the U.S. government, there are no conflicts of interest, and the company has not sought or received any special treatment.
