{"id":340398,"date":"2025-10-29T09:08:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T09:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/340398\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T09:08:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T09:08:18","slug":"inside-the-trump-familys-global-crypto-cash-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/340398\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside The Trump Family’s Global Crypto Cash Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

DUBAI, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Eric Trump was in Dubai on family business. Meeting with a Chinese businessman and his associates on the sidelines of a cryptocurrency conference in May this year, the son of U.S. President Donald J. Trump ran through his usual talking points about the inefficiency of traditional banks and his own famous father\u2019s run-ins with financiers.<\/p>\n

Then came the pitch. Buy at least $20 million of \u201cgovernance tokens\u201d in the Trump family\u2019s crypto business, World Liberty Financial, and become part of a venture that Eric Trump predicted would soon embody the future of finance in America, according to a person familiar with the meeting.<\/p>\n

To some in that small gathering, the technology Eric Trump\u2019s team described for World Liberty seemed \u201crudimentary,\u201d the person said. At the time, World Liberty was a fledgling business. It hadn\u2019t yet created the cryptocurrency-based finance platform it promised after its September 2024 launch. It still hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Even so, the pitch apparently worked. On June 26, an obscure entity called Aqua1 Foundation, which said it was based in the United Arab Emirates, announced it was buying $100 million of cryptocurrency tokens from World Liberty. It was the single largest known purchase of the so-called WLFI tokens at the time.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Trump Organization executive vice-president Eric Trump participates in a session during the Token 2049 crypto conference in Dubai on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE \/ AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE\/AFP via Getty Images) <\/p>\n

GIUSEPPE CACACE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Chinese businessman who met with Eric Trump in Dubai was Guren \u201cBobby\u201d Zhou, who has executive roles in multiple businesses and who is under investigation in Britain for money laundering, according to that nation\u2019s National Crime Agency and a document filed in an immigration case at London\u2019s Royal Courts of Justice.<\/p>\n

Zhou did not respond directly to requests for comment for this article. In a statement emailed to Reuters, an entity calling itself Aqua Labs Investment LLC said Zhou was its co-founder and described itself as an Abu Dhabi entity of Aqua1 Foundation. The statement said Aqua1 Foundation\u2019s investment in World Liberty tokens \u201cwas a commercial decision consistent with its focus on advancing regulated, scalable digital-asset ecosystems.\u201d Zhou\u2019s relationship to Aqua1 Foundation has not been previously reported.<\/p>\n

Aqua1 Foundation did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did Eric Trump.<\/p>\n

The Dubai meeting, reported here for the first time, was just one stop on a globetrotting investment roadshow the two elder sons of President Trump \u2013 Eric and Donald Trump<\/a> Jr. \u2013 embarked on around the time of their father\u2019s election to a second term. In Europe, the Middle East and Asia, they have been promoting World Liberty and other ventures that funnel investors\u2019 cash to Trump family businesses, known collectively as the Trump Organization. The Trump brothers\u2019 efforts have been a whopping success. In the first half of this year, the Trump Organization\u2019s income soared 17-fold to $864 million from $51 million a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations based on the president\u2019s official disclosures, property records, financial records released in court cases, crypto trade information and other sources. Of the first-half total, $802 million \u2013 more than 90% \u2013 came from Trump crypto ventures, including sales of World Liberty tokens.<\/p>\n

That $864 million payday represents actual income \u2013 cash flowing, free and clear, into Trump family coffers. Reuters\u2019 calculations were reviewed by half a dozen crypto and real estate experts and a certified accountant who has studied the U.S. Internal Revenue Service\u2019s approach to crypto.<\/p>\n

The Trumps\u2019 first-half crypto income dwarfed what the family earned from its traditional businesses \u2013 $33 million from the president\u2019s golf clubs and resorts and $23 million for licensing his name to overseas real estate developers, according to the Reuters estimates. More than half the Trumps\u2019 income \u2013 $463 million \u2013 came from sales of World Liberty tokens alone, including up to $75 million from Aqua1\u2019s token purchase. On its website, World Liberty says a Trump Organization entity receives 75% of the revenue from the token sales through its association with World Liberty. The family also made $336 million from sales of a Trump meme coin, $TRUMP, Reuters calculated, using assumptions vetted by five analysts. Due to a lack of transparency in the Trump meme coin business, estimates of income from the coins carry a higher degree of uncertainty than those for WLFI token sales. The Trumps are minting a trove of hard cash from digital assets backed, so far, by little more than the Trump name. World Liberty tokens, like most crypto products, are registered on digital ledgers called blockchains. But WLFI tokens offer holders little beyond a limited say in the business\u2019s plans, unlike governance tokens for similar projects. And meme coins like the $TRUMP coin are essentially collectibles whose value reflects the popularity of the internet joke, meme or personality associated with them.<\/p>\n

World Liberty Financial did not respond directly to requests for comment for this article. In a letter to Reuters, Timothy Parlatore, a lawyer for the company, said: \u201cWLFI tokens are not securities; they are digital assets with real utility, including governance rights that benefit holders as the platform grows.\u201d He also said: \u201cThe Alleged Valuation and Income Analysis of WLFI Is Inaccurate and Misleading.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a subsequent email, Parlatore declined to provide further specifics on the benefits to holders of World Liberty governance tokens or his critique of the Reuters analysis.<\/p>\n

The jump in the Trumps\u2019 income represents \u201ca massive pivot\u201d for the family business, said Carter Davis, an assistant professor of finance at The Ohio State University who has studied cryptocurrency pricing and who reviewed the Reuters calculations. \u201cEven if you go through and you do the most conservative estimate\u2026it\u2019s pretty wild that you end up with such a huge fraction of the income coming from crypto.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018LEGAL BUT UNETHICAL\u2019<\/p>\n

The identities of most buyers of the WLFI tokens are hidden behind opaque \u201cwallet\u201d addresses \u2013 the unique identifiers investors use as keys to access and manage their holdings. Among the few major buyers whose identities are known \u2013 a mix of foreign and U.S. investors \u2013 most have histories of legal and regulatory entanglements related to their business endeavors. And as the Trump brothers\u2019 travels over the past year show, foreign investors have been a major target for token sales.<\/p>\n

Reuters interviewed half a dozen foreign crypto entrepreneurs who met with the Trump brothers. Five of them said they sought out the younger Trumps for business opportunities because of their proximity to the 79-year-old president and hopes of cashing in on his political and financial power. For many other investors, the Trumps\u2019 involvement signaled a chance to capitalize on the family\u2019s name. Dorji Rabten\u2019s Seoul-based venture investment firm, Oddiyana Ventures, bought an undisclosed amount of WLFI tokens in January. Rabten said he never met the Trump sons, but the family\u2019s involvement was central to his investment. \u201cIn the first very moment where we saw the project, we thought it\u2019s going to be very huge, obviously, given the fact it\u2019s a president\u2019s sons taking up that project,\u201d Rabten told Reuters in September.<\/p>\n

The alignment of the Trump family\u2019s crypto initiatives with President Trump\u2019s public role as overseer of U.S. crypto policy constitutes a conflict of interest unprecedented in modern presidential history, government ethics experts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people are not pouring money into coffers of the Trump family business because of the brothers\u2019 acumen,\u201d said Washington University law professor Kathleen Clark, who specializes in government ethics and was commenting on Reuters\u2019 findings. \u201cThey are doing it because they want freedom from legal constraints and impunity that only the president can deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"USUS President Donald Trump, on the first tee with sons Donald Trump Junior (left) and Eric Trump (right)during the official opening of the New Course, the second championship course at Trump International Golf Links, on the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. The president is opening up a new course dedicated to his Scottish mother, who grew up on the Isle of Lewis, as part of his five-day private trip to the country. Picture date: Tuesday July 29, 2025. (Photo by Jane Barlow\/PA Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Jane Barlow – PA Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

However, the ethicists said, unless the Trump brothers are explicitly promising access to or favorable treatment from the president in their sales pitches, they are breaking no laws. \u201cIt\u2019s legal but unethical,\u201d said Richard Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush and is now a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.<\/p>\n

None of the more than a dozen people Reuters spoke with who had met with the Trump brothers or their partners recounted any of them explicitly offering presidential access or favors in return for investing in their family businesses. The White House has repeatedly denied any conflict of interest, saying that upon taking office, the president ended his involvement in his businesses after placing them in a trust managed by his children.<\/p>\n

Still, as beneficiary of the trust that controls the Trump Organization, the president will have the money the family is now making at his disposal when he leaves office.<\/p>\n

A White House spokeswoman referred Reuters to the Trump Organization for comment. The Trump Organization\u2019s chief legal officer did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did Eric Trump or Donald Trump Jr.<\/p>\n

Parlatore, the World Liberty lawyer, said any suggestion that investments in the firm are motivated by a desire to get closer to President Trump \u201cis a complete lie.\u201d He pointed out that token purchases on secondary markets \u2013 as opposed to direct purchases from the company \u2013 do not benefit the World Liberty team.<\/p>\n

BLURRING THE LINE<\/p>\n

World Liberty advertises its plans on its website \u2013 an app for making crypto deposits, for example, and a crypto-backed borrowing facility. But for now, as a pure business play in a crowded field, it has little to recommend it.<\/p>\n

The venture has yet to unveil what it heralded last year as its core business: a peer-to-peer financing platform capable of challenging traditional banks. Since March, its leadership has actively promoted a stablecoin \u2013 a cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to traditional assets like dollars or gold \u2013 called USD1. While the stablecoin\u2019s name belongs to World Liberty, the coin is issued and supported by another company that pays World Liberty a share of the coin\u2019s profits. The coin\u2019s circulation is dwarfed by that of market leaders.<\/p>\n

Further, while WLFI holders can vote on limited governance matters, the platform is not designed to let them award themselves a share of profits. That\u2019s unusual among peer-to-peer crypto lending platforms, according to two academics who study crypto markets and a Reuters review of four of the largest platforms\u2019 terms of business.<\/p>\n

In July, holders voted to allow trading of the tokens on crypto exchanges. World Liberty later said that only early buyers would be allowed to sell, capped at no more than 20% of their tokens. After trading began on September 1, the token price rose from an initial 31 cents to 46 cents and then sank about 65% three days later. It now trades at around 14 cents.<\/p>\n

\"EricEric Trump, executive vice president of Trump Organization Inc., left, and Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president of development and acquisitions for Trump Organization Inc., outside of the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. Alt5 Sigma Corp., a Las Vegas-based company that swerved from chronic pain treatment into crypto payments, said in a statement Monday that it was selling shares to raise money to buy World Liberty Financial tokens, a virtual asset tied to the family of US President Donald Trump. Photographer: Adam Gray\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In his letter to Reuters, Parlatore said broader adoption of the stablecoin and other World Liberty products \u201cdirectly benefits WLFI governance token holders through established mechanics, which, while complicated, are factual and already operational.\u201d Asked for details of those mechanics and how they would benefit token holders, he said in a subsequent letter: \u201cYour proposed article is based entirely on false sources and a misinterpretation of basic principles.\u201d<\/p>\n

As recently as 2021, Donald J. Trump, speaking to Fox Business, criticized cryptocurrencies as a threat to U.S. dollar supremacy and said bitcoin \u201cseems like a scam.\u201d Three years later, his take on crypto had changed. Just weeks before the November 2024 presidential election, he kicked off sales of World Liberty tokens with a social media post: \u201cThis is YOUR chance to help shape the future of finance,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Since Trump\u2019s second inauguration, his administration, reversing many of its predecessor\u2019s positions, has been clearing the way for the crypto industry\u2019s growth in the U.S. The Justice Department axed its crypto enforcement team. Regulators scrapped guidance warning banks to be cautious about crypto-related risks. And the Securities and Exchange Commission has paused or dropped lawsuits in high-profile cases against crypto firms. For its part, World Liberty conveys the impression of a presidential connection. On the \u201cMeet our team\u201d section of its website, the firm displays a portrait of President Trump, labeling him a \u201cco-founder emeritus.\u201d The other co-founder emeritus shown is Steven Witkoff, a billionaire real estate investor and President Trump\u2019s special envoy to the Middle East and for peace missions. (A small footnote says both men were \u201cremoved upon taking office.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\"TheThe World Liberty Financial website arranged on a smartphone in New York, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. Photographer: Gabby Jones\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Don Jr.<\/a>, Eric and their younger brother, Barron Trump, are presented as co-founders, as are Witkoff\u2019s two sons, Zach and Alex. Zach Witkoff has been a ubiquitous presence with the Trump brothers as they have traveled the globe to tout tokens.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the Trump name, you wouldn\u2019t see World Liberty Financial raising this kind of money,\u201d said Santa Clara University finance professor Seoyoung Kim, who specializes in crypto analytics. Kim said she saw nothing of particular value in the technologies and services announced by World Liberty, describing its value proposition as \u201cbeing part of the club.\u201d<\/p>\n

The business has transformed the Trump family\u2019s wealth. Thanks to continuing token sales, the Trumps\u2019 crypto income is now approaching and could even exceed $1 billion.<\/p>\n

In early August, for example, about three weeks before WLFI began trading, a tiny Nasdaq-listed blockchain services company, Alt5 Sigma, said it had raised $750 million from investors to help buy 7.5% of all World Liberty tokens. In corporate filings for the deal, Alt5 Sigma said that the $750 million came from institutional investors and that almost all of it was used to buy tokens from World Liberty. Based on that information, the Trumps stood to gain about $500 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an incredibly exciting time,\u201d Eric Trump told Fox Business on August 13, a day after the deal with Alt5 Sigma was finalized.<\/p>\n

Since the deal was announced, Alt5 Sigma\u2019s share price has dropped by 75%. That decline did not affect the cash the Trumps have already made from the deal.<\/p>\n

The Trumps\u2019 cash income from crypto doesn\u2019t even include the value of the vast crypto assets the family has amassed in the past year.<\/p>\n

Those assets include $TRUMP meme coins and World Liberty tokens the family still holds. They also include shares in publicly listed Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs Trump\u2019s social-media platform Truth Social<\/a> and has expanded into crypto. These holdings are vulnerable to wild price swings, are at risk of price collapse if major holders sell, and can be subject to restrictions on sales and transfers. Nonetheless, they carry an estimated value that \u2013 on paper, at least \u2013 could add more than $11 billion to the family\u2019s fortune.<\/p>\n

THE FOREIGN ELEMENT<\/p>\n

World Liberty began selling WLFI tokens in October last year to both U.S. and foreign investors. But initial sales in the U.S. were slow. SEC rules gave only wealthy investors access to the tokens, which shut out small retail buyers who might have wanted to buy them as supporters of the president, as they have done with scores of other products licensed by the Trump Organization, from Trump-endorsed bibles to sneakers to electric guitars.<\/p>\n

Soon, as President-elect Trump\u2019s second term approached, World Liberty was at risk of losing access to the foreign buyers who were sustaining token sales. The family\u2019s self-imposed ethical guidelines for Trump\u2019s first term prohibited them from seeking new business outside the U.S. Then, days before his second inauguration, the Trump Organization released revised guidelines that jettisoned that constraint.<\/p>\n

That worked. In a review conducted for Reuters of the 50 wallets holding the largest amount of World Liberty tokens as of September 15, crypto analytics firm Nansen found that 36 wallets \u2013 with holdings valued at $804 million \u2013 were likely connected to overseas buyers. Only four wallets were connected to U.S. investors, amounting to $889 million. But most of that amount, $781 million, was held by Alt5 Sigma; an additional $35 million was held by a World Liberty security adviser. Nansen was unable to determine whether the remaining 10 wallets were connected to Americans or foreigners based on blockchain data at the time of analysis.<\/p>\n

\"DonaldDonald Trump Jr., executive vice president of development and acquisitions for Trump Organization Inc., from left, Eric Trump, executive vice president of Trump Organization Inc., and Zach Witkoff, co-founder and chief executive officer of World Liberty Financial and chairman of ALT5 Sigma Corp., prior to the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. Photographer: Adam Gray\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Parlatore, the World Liberty lawyer, said that more foreigners than Americans have bought crypto because there are more of them, and that crypto has higher penetration rates outside the U.S. He added: \u201cIt was basically harder to sell WLFI tokens to American investors, especially initially, as the rules were very restrictive in the last administration when the token sale began.\u201d Among the largest buyers of the tokens is Justin Sun, a Hong Kong-based crypto billionaire. The SEC in 2023 charged Sun with fraud, selling unregistered crypto securities and hiding payments to celebrities to promote his products. With Trump back in the White House, the commission paused the case in February, just weeks after Sun announced he had increased his total purchases of World Liberty tokens to $75 million. Under the terms of World Liberty\u2019s cash distribution agreement with its co-founders, Sun\u2019s token purchases would have sent $56 million to the Trump family.<\/p>\n

Justin Sun did not respond to a request for comment. An SEC spokesperson declined to comment. The investigation remains paused.<\/p>\n

Foreign interests juiced the Trump family\u2019s income through the World Liberty USD1 stablecoin, too. In May, MGX, a state-controlled Abu Dhabi investment company, used the coin to buy a $2 billion equity stake in Binance, the world\u2019s largest crypto exchange. The deal still accounts for three-quarters of all USD1 coins in circulation, though World Liberty has cited it as evidence of \u201cextraordinary, worldwide demand\u201d for the stablecoin.<\/p>\n

The board chairman of MGX is Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE\u2019s national security adviser and a brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed. The $2 billion MGX paid to create the stablecoins is held in cash equivalents such as U.S. Treasury securities. World Liberty says on its website that those securities kick off interest payments to some of its affiliates, including one 38%-owned by the Trump Organization. That income stream of about $80 million annually could yield millions for the Trumps this year, based on Reuters calculations, though because of the lack of public reporting, it\u2019s not possible to know the final figure.<\/p>\n

The deal sparked criticism of what was widely viewed as an egregious conflict of interest. Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren<\/a> and Jeff Merkley asked the Office of Government Ethics to launch an inquiry, warning that MGX\u2019s purchase using the stablecoin \u201cmay violate the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution,\u201d which prohibits officeholders from receiving payments or presents from foreign governments.<\/p>\n

Eric Ueland, the Trump-appointed acting head of the Office of Government Ethics, an independent agency in the executive branch, did not respond to a request for comment. In response to a follow-up request to the ethics office\u2019s spokesperson, Reuters received an automated message: \u201cDue to a lapse in appropriations,\u201d a reference to the U.S. government shutdown, \u201cI will be unable to process requests or respond to inquiries.\u201d<\/p>\n

An MGX spokesperson referred Reuters to a previous statement which said the company chose USD1 after evaluating several stablecoins, \u201cexamining such factors as business suitability, the jurisdiction and currency of assets backing the stablecoin, and compliance history.\u201d It noted that the stablecoin purchase did not constitute an investment in World Liberty and that MGX used the stablecoin to complete a transaction in which the seller had requested use of cryptocurrency. MGX\u2019s stablecoin investment also represented a turnabout for Binance in the U.S. \u2013 from criminal convictions two years ago to a role in a deal that financially benefits the U.S. president.<\/p>\n

\"ANKARA,ANKARA, TURKIYE – MARCH 24: In this photo illustration ‘MGX’ logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of a screen displaying ‘Binance’ logo in Ankara, Turkiye on March 24, 2025. (Photo by Didem Mente\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In late 2023, the exchange pleaded guilty in federal court to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program and paid a penalty of $4.3 billion. Its billionaire founder, China-born Changpeng Zhao, served nearly four months in prison after pleading guilty to the same charge and stepped down as CEO, but kept his Binance stake.<\/p>\n

In May, shortly after the announcement that MGX was using the Trump stablecoin to invest in Binance, Zhao told a podcaster that he had applied for a pardon from the Trump administration but had never spoken to the president. Last week, the White House announced that President Trump had pardoned Zhao, saying that the previous administration of President Joe Biden \u201cseverely damaged the United States\u2019 reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the pardon was announced, Zhao posted on social media that he was grateful to the president and would \u201cdo everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reuters could not determine whether World Liberty had any contact with Binance before the latter accepted MGX\u2019s investment using USD1 stablecoins. The White House did not respond to Reuters\u2019 questions about whether the stablecoin deal and Zhao\u2019s pardon were connected.<\/p>\n

MGX said it \u201cdid not seek or receive assurances from any party outside the ordinary course of business for such a transaction.\u201d The Trump family and its business representatives did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Binance and Zhao did not respond to requests for comment. In a letter to Reuters before the pardon was announced, their lawyers said Binance and Zhao are \u201cclear\u201d that they \u201cconducted themselves entirely properly with regard to the MGX investment\u201d and that \u201cany suggestion that the MGX investment, or the use of USD1 for it, might in any way be linked to any request Mr Zhao might make for a Presidential pardon, would be wholly without foundation.\u201d They said their clients \u201cdid not control the payment method chosen by MGX for its investment in Binance.\u201d<\/p>\n

ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET<\/p>\n

The perception that Trump family businesses could provide a path to the president was on display on April 27, when Donald Trump Jr. landed at the airport in Sofia, Bulgaria. He descended the stairs from a Gulfstream business jet to a red carpet on the tarmac and was whisked away in a long motorcade of black vehicles.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a state visit. It was a stop on a tour of Eastern European capitals where Don Jr. attended a series of conferences titled \u201cTrump Business Vision 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sofia event was sponsored by Nexo, a crypto firm based in the Cayman Islands that left the U.S. market after the SEC fined it $45 million for offering an unregistered securities product. As the conference in Sofia got under way, Antoni Trenchev, Nexo\u2019s co-founder and a former member of the Bulgarian National Assembly, joined Don Jr. on stage. During the event, Trenchev announced that Nexo intended to resume operations in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\"DonaldDonald Trump Jr. (L) and US President Donald Trump (3rd R) are seen at the end of a Medal of Freedom Ceremony for late US right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 14, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In a statement sent to Reuters, Nexo said the announcement \u201cwas not linked to Mr. Trenchev\u2019s interactions with Donald Trump Jr. or the President of the United States.\u201d The company also said it does not have a confirmed timeline for returning to the U.S., but pointed out that \u201cthe regulatory environment has begun to shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

By early July, Nexo had strengthened its ties to the Trump family. That month, Nexo became a lead sponsor of a golf championship held at a Trump-owned golf course near Aberdeen, Scotland. A few weeks later, President Trump hosted Trenchev over lunch at his Scottish golf resort, where the two discussed politics and their \u201cjoint vision for crypto in the U.S.\u201d during a day on the links, as Trenchev later posted on X with a picture of him and the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you sincerely for what you are doing for all of us,\u201d Trenchev wrote, tagging the U.S. president\u2019s X handle.<\/p>\n

Nexo said its sponsorship of the Scottish event was part of a broader partnership with Europe\u2019s leading golf tour. The company said its financial contribution to the partnership was eight figures but declined to be more specific. It also said it did not know what portion of its contribution, if any, would go to the Trump family.<\/p>\n

A source familiar with the matter said Nexo agreed to pay about $10 million under the three-year deal.<\/p>\n

A CHECKERED HISTORY<\/p>\n

On May 1, four days after Don Jr. received a red carpet welcome in Sofia, his brother Eric took the stage in Dubai with World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff at a crypto conference called TOKEN2049. There, they announced the MGX stablecoin deal and excoriated the traditional banking system as antiquated and broken. \u201cWe are going to transform the financial world,\u201d Eric told the crowd.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Trump Organisation executive vice-president Eric Trump (R), World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff (C) and cryptomoney exchange Tron Justin Sun (L), participate in a session during the Token 2049 crypto conference in Dubai on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE \/ AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE\/AFP via Getty Images) <\/p>\n

GIUSEPPE CACACE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Acting as a moderator was Justin Sun. At the time, he was the largest known investor in World Liberty tokens. That would soon change. Hours before walking on stage, Eric Trump had made his pitch for buying World Liberty tokens to Guren \u201cBobby\u201d Zhou and a few other crypto enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

Zhou had recently served as chairman of the UAE offices of a British Virgin Islands-registered crypto firm called Web3Port. He brought with him to the meeting a checkered legal history.<\/p>\n

Forget BallroomsHelp Build aNewsroom<\/p>\n

Your SupportFuelsOur Mission<\/p>\n

Your SupportFuelsOur Mission<\/p>\n

Become a HuffPost Member<\/p>\n

When power gathers under golden ceilings, real journalism stands outside, asking the questions that matter. Join HuffPost Membership and keep independent reporting strong for everyone.<\/p>\n

We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n

Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n

Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Support HuffPost<\/a><\/p>\n

Already a member? Log in to hide these messages.<\/a><\/p>\n

Before moving to the UAE, Zhou lived in Britain, where he was arrested in 2021 under suspicion of money laundering, according to a February 2024 court judgment in a separate case involving his UK immigration status. The judgment says Zhou denied any wrongdoing. Britain\u2019s National Crime Agency, which passed the case to prosecutors in 2022, confirmed to Reuters that Zhou remains under investigation.<\/p>\n

Additionally, in three separate civil cases between 2017 and 2023, Zhou and a family member were found by Chinese courts to have failed to repay loans totaling 19.4 million yuan (about $2.4 million at current exchange rates), according to court judgments reviewed by Reuters. One of those judgments notes that Zhou failed to appear in court and was tried in absentia.<\/p>\n

Zhou did not respond to requests for comment. The Aqua Labs statement said: \u201cAny allegations of wrongdoing contained in recent media enquiries are entirely false. Mr Guren (\u201cBobby\u201d) Zhou has never been convicted of any financial crime in any jurisdiction, and any implication to the contrary is defamatory and false.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reuters could not determine whether Eric Trump was aware of those details when the two met. Parlatore, the World Liberty lawyer, noted that primary sales of World Liberty tokens are subject to review, but did not respond to questions about the vendors the company uses or what steps it takes beyond an initial check of buyers\u2019 identities.<\/p>\n

About a month after Zhou met with Eric Trump, in mid-June, Web3Port\u2019s BVI entities changed their names, adopting \u201cAqua1\u201d in place of \u201cWeb3Port,\u201d according to local government records. Just days later, on June 26, Aqua1 Foundation announced its $100 million purchase of World Liberty tokens.<\/p>\n

Then, on June 30, the host of a livestream chat on X out of the UAE started talking about the excitement surrounding Aqua1. And \u201cguess what,\u201d the host said, there was \u201ca special guest from Aqua1 Foundation\u201d on the line. That guest was Zhou, who said, \u201cWe\u2019re very proud to be, you know, a major player in the World Liberty, which is Trump\u2019s family\u2019s crypto venture.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Reporting by David Gauthier-Villars in Dubai, Tom Bergin in London, Michelle Conlin in New York, Lawrence Delevingne in Boston and Tom Wilson in London. Additional reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh and Federico Maccioni in Dubai and Francesco Guarascio in Hanoi. Edited by Tom Lasseter, Paritosh Bansal and John Blanton.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUBAI, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Eric Trump was in Dubai on family business. Meeting with a Chinese businessman…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":340399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,1605,39024,5005,17442,67,132,68,27186],"class_list":{"0":"post-340398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-donald-trump-jr","10":"tag-eric-trump","11":"tag-president-donald-trump","12":"tag-trump-organization","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-world-liberty-financial"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115456673623982294","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}