Trump sued by Circle shareholder over alleged $2B UAE crypto profits

A shareholder of a major digital asset firm has filed a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing him of crypto-related corruption.

Filed on Thursday, the case was brought by J. Benjamin Greenberg, a shareholder and former Circle employee. It claims that a member of the UAE ruling family committed to paying $500 million into World Liberty Financial, a business backed by Trump, in violation of the Constitution.

Circle is the fintech firm that issues the USDC stablecoin. U.S. regulators are quickly advancing pro-crypto regulations, even though lawmakers blocked significant digital asset legislation last month, a bill that Trump supported.

Several lawmakers opposed the Clarity Act draft legislation, arguing that the Trump family had improperly profited from cryptocurrency ventures.

"The corruption at issue is not subtle, and it is not hidden," the lawsuit alleges. "Since returning to office, President Donald J. Trump and his family have built a cryptocurrency business and invited foreign states to route money to him by paying into it. Foreign money has answered."

The suit additionally claims that an Abu Dhabi government investment fund provided Trump with $2 billion through World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin.

World Liberty Financial is a decentralized finance venture co-founded by Trump and his sons.

Trump ceased involvement in the project after assuming office in 2025.

The lawsuit further alleges that Trump gave UAE leaders access to advanced AI chips and issued a pardon for a convicted felon in exchange for the crypto investment. It cites a Wall Street Journal article from February that reported on the arrangement.

"Although the President has dressed his corrupt arrangements in the language of new technology — tokens and stablecoins, holding companies and reserve yields — that vocabulary must not obscure what this is: the oldest form of public corruption, a public official taking money from a foreign power," the lawsuit further says.

The lawsuit asserts that Trump corruptly earned $2 billion from these deals.

Named as defendants are Trump, World Liberty, and U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

Trump campaigned on a platform of supporting the crypto industry and received substantial financial support from it, but some lawmakers in Washington have criticized how his family has benefited from digital asset ventures.

Trump and the White House have consistently denied any conflicts of interest. In August, before the Clarity Act vote, the president said that Democrats who criticize his family's crypto businesses have themselves profited from stock trading.