A UAE-backed funding car reportedly purchased a 49% stake within the Trump-linked crypto startup World Liberty Monetary for $500M simply earlier than Trump returned to the White Home in January 2025.
A yr on from this funding, we check out what impact it has had on World Liberty Monetary and the broader Trump-linked crypto ecosystem.
Senior UAE royal secretly bought 49% stake in Trump's World Liberty Monetary for $500m pic.twitter.com/xi8ByzJcyf
— db (@tier10k) February 1, 2026
It additionally comes at a time when international funds are pushing deeper into DeFi and the broader crypto house, betting that continued friendlier US coverage will unlock extra development.
The crypto market has taken a battering over this weekend, with over $300Bn wiped off the whole market cap because the Bitcoin
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worth crashed beneath $80,000 and is at the moment buying and selling at $78,250.
(SOURCE: CoinGlass)
What’s the Significance of Abu Dhabi’s $500M Funding into Trump-Backed World Liberty Monetary?
The Wall Road Journal experiences that Aryam Funding 1, an Abu Dhabi car backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, agreed to purchase a 49% stake within the firm simply days earlier than Donald started his second time period as US President.
Half the cash arrived upfront. About $187M flowed to Trump family-controlled entities, with extra paid to teams tied to the challenge’s founders. Donald’s son, Eric Trump, reportedly signed the settlement.
The take care of World Liberty Monetary, which hasn’t beforehand been reported, was signed by Eric Trump, the president’s son. At the very least $31M was additionally slated to circulation to entities affiliated with Steve Witkoff’s household, a World Liberty co-founder who, weeks earlier, had been named US envoy to the Center East, the WSJ stated.
Sheikh Tahnoon’s involvement is critical because the Abu Dhabi royal has reportedly been pushing the US for entry to tightly guarded synthetic intelligence chips. Tahnoon is the brother of the United Arab Emirates’ president, the federal government’s nationwide safety adviser, and the chief of the oil-rich nation’s largest wealth fund.
He oversees an empire valued at greater than $1.3 trillion, funded by his private fortune and state cash, spanning every thing from fish farms to AI to surveillance, making him some of the highly effective single buyers on the earth.
The deal marked one thing unprecedented in American politics: a overseas authorities official taking a significant possession stake in an organization linked to the incoming US President.
So… a bribe?
Trump bought $500 Million and U.A.E. bought “tightly guarded” A.I. chips. How is that this not a bribe, precisely? https://t.co/eedXsUQ19Z pic.twitter.com/ZS9Pt9Ippn
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) February 1, 2026
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Why Does Massive UAE Cash Matter Right here?
This isn’t retail hypothesis. That is state-linked capital entering into crypto on a big scale. For on a regular basis buyers, that alerts confidence that crypto will sit nearer to the monetary mainstream below Trump.
It additionally suits an even bigger sample. The UAE has pushed onerous into digital property, from exchanges to stablecoins. Current strikes in the UAE’s crypto enlargement present the nation needs to affect the place finance and tech intersect.
Weeks earlier than the deal surfaced, one other Tahnoon-led agency used World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin to settle a $2Bn funding into Binance. That connects Trump Crypto, the world’s main crypto trade, with sovereign capital in a single deal.
Trump Crypto Tasks are Presently within the Information for All of the Unsuitable Causes
(SOURCE: CoinGecko)
This story, reported by the Wall Road Journal, comes throughout a interval of utmost volatility within the crypto market, particularly for initiatives related to the President.
The Official Trump memecoin is down over -94% from its all-time excessive and is at the moment buying and selling at simply $4.15, after briefly buying and selling above $40 in January 2025.
Then there’s the President’s spouse, Melania, and her official memecoin. MELANIA is down -99% from its January 2025 excessive of greater than $7 and is buying and selling immediately for simply $0.12.
Lastly, the native token for Trump’s DeFi platform, World Liberty Monetary, is down -63% from its September 2025 excessive. WLFI is buying and selling for $0.125, down -17% on the day, and its market cap has fallen to $3.2Bn from $6.6Bn simply six months in the past.
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