A Circle shareholder has sued President Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial, accusing them of profiting from more than $2 billion in UAE-linked crypto payments in violation of the Constitution. Circle, World Liberty and the White House all reject the case, and a judge has yet to rule.
Circle shareholder J. Benjamin Greenberg sued Trump and World Liberty Financial in Washington on Oct. 22. The suit targets a $500 million WLFI stake sale and a $2 billion MGX deal settled in the USD1 stablecoin.
Two deals at the center of the complaint
The first is a $500 million agreement for a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security adviser. According to the complaint, the deal was agreed days before Trump's January 2025 inauguration, with payouts flowing to Trump after he took office.
The second is a $2 billion investment in Binance by MGX, an Abu Dhabi fund that Tahnoon chairs. MGX settled that investment using USD1, the stablecoin issued by the Trump family's crypto venture. The complaint calls the arrangement a scheme to inflate the value of the president's crypto holdings.
Why a Circle investor is suing
Greenberg is a former Circle employee who still holds the company's stock. He filed a derivative suit, meaning he is suing on Circle's behalf rather than his own. Circle issues USDC, and Greenberg alleges that foreign money routed through USD1 left Circle unable to compete.
The suit also names U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, whose family co-founded World Liberty, along with four related limited liability companies.
Defendants push back
Circle moved quickly to distance itself. A spokesperson said the company "did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing."
World Liberty representative David Wachsman said the firm is compliant with all US laws and regulations, while a White House spokesperson called it a frivolous lawsuit and said there are no conflicts of interest. Greenberg's lawyer, Matt Pelikan of Evergreen Legal, however, said the plaintiff is suing to force Trump to return the profits to American taxpayers.
The case differs from Tron founder Justin Sun's April suit, which alleged World Liberty froze his WLFI tokens. That case is a contract dispute between investors, while Greenberg's suit goes after the president under the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause.
Source: Bitcoin News
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