UAE Security Advisor Holds 49% Stake in Trump-Backed Crypto Bank Holding Company, Report Shows

StringZ Holding RSC, an investment vehicle controlled by United Arab Emirates National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and his co-investors, holds a 49% equity interest in WLTC Holdings, the parent entity behind a proposed cryptocurrency bank tied to President Donald Trump's family, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal and cited by CNBC Business.

An entity affiliated with the Trump family retains a 38% stake in WLTC Holdings. The equity structure deepens existing financial ties between the UAE official—who is also the brother of the Gulf state's president—and the Trump-backed digital asset enterprise.

In January 2025, during the first month of Trump's second term, Tahnoon and fellow investors injected $500 million into World Liberty Financial to secure a 49% ownership stake in the enterprise. That transaction directed $263 million to Trump family entities, according to Trump's 2025 federal financial disclosure filing.

The investment represents one of several international commercial arrangements that have provided revenue to Trump's corporate enterprise since his return to office. Licensing agreements with foreign entities generated at least $59.5 million for Trump-affiliated businesses in the first year of his second administration, as previously reported by CNBC Business.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty to establish a federally chartered national trust bank. Upon fulfilling remaining regulatory mandates, the charter would allow the entity to issue, redeem, and hold custody of USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin created by World Liberty.

The cross-border financial arrangement has drawn heightened regulatory and public policy scrutiny because Tahnoon serves as a senior government figure while the executive branch conducts trade talks with the UAE regarding exports of advanced American artificial intelligence processors. The Trump administration recently approved microchip deliveries to G42, a state-backed AI firm led by Tahnoon, while loosening previous restrictions on shipment volumes.

In a statement, World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman described the firm as a private American financial technology company rather than a political organization, adding that the trust bank maintains independent corporate governance. Wachsman stated that no personnel at World Liberty hold positions in the U.S. government and denied any conflicts of interest or regulatory favoritism, while declining to comment on the reported corporate ownership split.

The White House did not respond immediately to requests for comment regarding the entity's equity ownership. Administration representatives have previously stated that Trump acts solely in the interest of the American public and maintains no commercial conflicts of interest.