A shareholder and former employee of Circle has sued U.S. President Donald Trump, alleging that foreign money was directed into a cryptocurrency business backed by Trump and his family in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday by J. Benjamin Greenberg, claims that members of the United Arab Emirates ruling family agreed to invest $500 million in World Liberty Financial, a decentralized-finance project co-founded by Trump and his sons. It further alleges that an Abu Dhabi government investment fund provided another $2 billion through World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin product.
The allegations were reported by Bitcoin Magazine. Trump, World Liberty Financial and U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are named as defendants.
What the lawsuit alleges
According to the complaint, the transactions amounted to foreign payments benefiting the president through a crypto venture. The filing argues that using tokens, stablecoins, holding companies and reserve yields does not change the nature of the alleged conduct.
The lawsuit also claims that Trump provided Emirati leaders access to advanced artificial-intelligence chips and pardoned a convicted felon in connection with the investment. It cites a February report by The Wall Street Journal as part of its discussion of the alleged arrangement.
The complaint says Trump and his family created a cryptocurrency business after his return to office and invited foreign states to put money into it. Greenberg alleges that Trump personally profited corruptly from $2 billion in transactions.
These are allegations in a civil lawsuit, and the source material does not indicate that a court has ruled on them. Trump, the White House and World Liberty have denied conflicts of interest, while the president has previously rejected criticism of his family’s crypto activities.
Political and regulatory backdrop
Circle is the fintech company behind USDC, one of the major stablecoins. Stablecoins are digital assets designed to maintain a relatively stable value, commonly by being linked to a traditional currency such as the U.S. dollar.
The case comes as U.S. regulators move ahead with rules viewed as supportive of the crypto industry. At the same time, lawmakers last month blocked the Clarity Act, a major digital-asset bill backed by Trump. Some lawmakers opposed the legislation while citing concerns that the Trump family had improperly benefited from cryptocurrency ventures.
Trump campaigned on support for the crypto sector and received substantial financial backing from the industry. He stopped being involved in World Liberty after taking office in 2025. In August, before the Clarity Act vote, Trump said Democrats who criticized his family’s crypto businesses had themselves made money from stock trading.
Market picture
Moneyiar market data at 11:38-11:39 p.m. local time on October 22, 2026, showed Bitcoin at $81,208.78, down 3.61% over 24 hours and 1.11% over seven days.
The token listed as Stable was trading at $0.0256328464, down 2.34% in 24 hours and 6.26% over seven days. Official TRUMP stood at $1.7291453782, down 5.95% over 24 hours and 7.88% over seven days. Aethir was $0.0058631403, down 4.80% over 24 hours and 0.68% over seven days.
