UAE Firm Invests $100M in Trump-Linked WLFI Token

A company based in the UAE has invested $100 million in the Trump-linked WLFI (World Liberty Financial) Token.

On 26 June 2025, WLFI and Aqua1 Foundation, a Web3 native investment fund, jointly announced their collaboration as a strategic manoeuvre to turbocharge the blockchain ecosystem for applications related to real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation, stablecoins and decentralised finance (DeFi).

Aqua1 Foundation’s investment in this venture dwarfs the next biggest investment in the token made by Justin Sun, Tron’s founder, who invested $30 million in the Trump-linked WLFI in November last year.

Dave Lee, the founding partner at Aqua1, said, “Aqua1 and WLFI will work together to identify and support blockchain projects with transformative potential.” According to Lee, the integration of traditional finance with blockchain protocols is a “trillion-dollar pivot opportunity.”

The joint announcement has come in a day after the Trump-backed DeFi project, World Liberty, revealed its team to be working on enabling trading of the WLFI tokens. The WLFI token allows its holders to exercise voting rights, where users can also suggest governance changes, but cannot transfer the tokens.

#Trump – Linked DeFi Platform Scores $100M from UAE Giant Aqua 1

World Liberty Financial $WLFI the DeFi project aligned with Donald Trump’s financial vision, just secured a $100 million investment from UAE-based fund Aqua 1.

Why It Matters:
Aqua 1 now holds major… pic.twitter.com/1RVEIAsxSN

— Crypto Club (@CryptoClubHQ) June 26, 2025

The investment by Aqua1 into WLFI, co-founded by Trump and his three sons, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump, and Barron Trump, commemorates another high-profile crypto deal of the Trump family, which is already under scrutiny from lawmakers.

According to Trump’s recent filings, he holds 15.745 billion WLFI tokens and has disclosed $58 million in earnings tied to the governance tokens.

Explore: Top 20 Crypto to Buy in June 2025

Capitalisation of Crypto Market by “Chief Crypto Advocate”

The project brands Trump as its “chief crypto advocate,” with his sons helping lead its DeFi expansion. Interestingly, Trump’s financial disclosure of making $58 million, primarily from WLFI sales, only trailed his income from his hospitality business. Analysts project that his earnings from crypto will rise in 2025, driven by a $390 million token sale and meme coin gains.

Overlaps between legislative developments and Trump’s family crypto dealings have raised numerous red flags among members of Congress.

The alarm was first raised in May this year when Eric Trump disclosed that MGX, a state-owned AI and advanced technology investment firm based in Abu Dhabi, was to use WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance.

Additionally, Trump’s involvement in Bitcoin mining, tokenised assets and digital ETFs has raised concerns regarding potential conflict of interest.

In a recent Senate Appropriation Committee hearing, Pam Bondi, the US Attorney General, declined to comment directly to Senator Jeff Merkley’s questions about the Trump-linked WLFI Token.

“I think it’s important for the leader of the Justice Department of the US to be very concerned about foreign influence,” Merkley stated.

He further emphasised, “Americans should make American decisions, not have them bought through crypto coins.”

Explore: 9+ Best High-Risk, High-Reward Crypto to Buy in June 2025

WLFI Gold Paper Reveals No Official Ownership

In August 2024, Donald Trump Jr promoted the WLFI as a DeFi alternative to traditional banking, advocating for the dollar’s dominance through USD-pegged stablecoins. The project uses Aave v3, the third major upgrade of the Aave Protocol, which DeFi platforms frequently use for lending and borrowing crypto assets.

It was launched as an Ethereum ERC-20 token, with WLFI clarifying the nature of the token to be community-backed. The token was made available for sale to the general public on 15 October 2025, with Trump being listed as Chief Crypto Advocate and his sons being termed as Web3 Ambassadors.

The project’s Gold Paper (foundational document), however, states that they hold no official ownership or employment roles.

Explore: Best New Cryptocurrencies to Invest in 2025