Trump’s crypto project gets $100 million from UAE-based fund

Dubai: A little known crypto fund bought $100 million of World Liberty Financial Inc. tokens, the second Middle East-based investor to put money into the Trump family affiliated decentralized finance platform.

UAE-based Aqua 1 Foundation said it purchased the so-called governance tokens, in a joint statement Thursday with World Liberty. The investment will make Aqua 1 the largest individual investor of the Trump-backed digital asset project, surpassing crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who’s also an adviser to World Liberty.

In May, MGX, a technology investment firm established by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, used World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin to facilitate its $2 billion investment in the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The investment by foreign entities with ties to sovereign nations has sparked an outcry among critics of the Trump administration over the potential for influence peddling. The administration and World Liberty have said there aren’t any conflicts of interest. 

Blockchain data shows that a digital wallet called aqua1.eth received a total of 800 million WLFI in three batches about two weeks ago.

The investment will be used to develop blockchain-powered financial applications including stablecoins and digitizing traditional assets, according to the statement. World Liberty, which announced last year that it plans to launch an application for crypto lending, currently only has one product – USD1, the dollar-backed stablecoin that has about $2.2 billion in market value after being used for the Binance transaction.

World Liberty Financial also plans to support the launch of Aqua 1’s Aqua Fund, a UAE-based investment fund in partnership with other UAE investors, the release added without naming any of the partners in the Middle East.

“WLFI and Aqua 1 will jointly identify and nurture high-potential blockchain projects together,” Dave Lee, founding partner of Aqua 1, said in the statement. A representatives of World Liberty Fi confirmed the collaboration.