A former Circle employee and shareholder has filed a derivative lawsuit in federal court in Washington, alleging that two UAE-linked cryptocurrency transactions violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause and benefited President Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial while exposing Circle investors to unfair competition.
The complaint, filed by J. Benjamin Greenberg on behalf of Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, names Trump, World Liberty Financial, U.S. Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff, and four affiliated limited liability companies. It casts USD1, World Liberty’s dollar-backed stablecoin, as a direct competitor to USDC and claims that UAE-linked competition diverted business from Circle and harmed its investors.
Two UAE-Linked Deals at Issue
The first transaction centers on a $500 million sale of a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial. A vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser, agreed to the purchase days before Trump’s January 2025 inauguration. The complaint alleges Trump received financial benefits from the transaction after taking office and describes the funding as foreign-state money flowing into a business linked to the president.
The second deal involves a $2 billion investment in Binance by Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund, which Tahnoon chairs. According to reporting cited in the complaint, the payment was made using USD1. Greenberg argues the stablecoin transaction helped raise USD1’s profile and value, benefiting Trump’s interests in World Liberty Financial.
Remedies Sought
The Foreign Emoluments Clause bars federal officeholders from accepting benefits from foreign states without congressional consent. Greenberg asks the court to declare that Trump’s profits violated the restriction, order Trump to return gains deemed unlawful, and require an accounting of foreign crypto-related payments and disclosure of other transactions. The suit also requests damages but does not specify an amount. These are allegations and remedies sought, not findings by a court.
Circle said it did not initiate, direct, authorize, or take part in the case, emphasizing that Greenberg filed as an individual shareholder. World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman called the claims meritless and said the firm would address them in court. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly described the case as frivolous and denied any conflict of interest. A representative for Witkoff had not responded to requests for comment, according to the report.
Background and Case Status
Trump co-founded World Liberty Financial with his sons before taking office and stopped participating in the project in 2025. The lawsuit also points to U.S. approval of advanced AI chip exports to the UAE and Trump’s pardon of convicted Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, alleging those actions intersected with the deals.
The case is Greenberg v. Trump, 26-cv-03686, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. No judgment or ruling has resolved the claims.
