A shareholder in Circle Internet Group Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) sued President Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial (WLFI) on Thursday, alleging illegal profiteering that violates the U.S. Constitution.
UAE-Linked Deals Under Scanner
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington by shareholder and former Circle employee J. Benjamin Greenberg alleged that Trump profited from more than $2 billion in payments tied to a foreign government through World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency platform co-founded by his sons.
The suit cast doubt on two deals: the first is a $500 million sale of a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial to an investment vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and a senior royal. The second was Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX‘s $2 billion deal with Binance using the World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) stablecoin.
Brazen Corruption, Alleges Plaintiff
Greenberg said the deals violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause, which prohibits federal officeholders from accepting any present, emolument, office or title from any king, prince, or foreign state without congressional consent.
“No president in American history has profited from his office so brazenly. Nor has this President tried to hide his corruption,” they said.
The plaintiff alleged the actions diverted business from Circle, the issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin USDC (CRYPTO: USDC), and sought “compensatory and punitive damages.”
Circle didn’t immediately return Benzinga’s request for comment. Responses from the White House and World Liberty Financial are also awaited.
The Crypto President
This is not the first time World Liberty Financial’s UAE-related deals have faced scrutiny. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has repeatedly raised concerns about the nature of those transactions.
The firm lists President Donald Trump and special envoy Steve Witkoff as co-founders emeritus and is run by members of the Trump and Witkoff families.
Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed more than $1.4 billion in income from crypto ventures, including more than $520 million from World Liberty Financial token sales.
The White House has rejected conflict-of-interest allegations, deeming it as one of those “tired” narratives that Democrats have pushed against Trump for years.
Price Action: At the time of writing, WLFI was trading at $0.05445, down 1.9% over the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.
Circle shares were down 0.21% in overnight trading after closing 3.44% lower at $86.62 during Thursday’s regular trading session.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CRCL maintains a stronger price trend over the long term, though it has lagged in the short and medium term.
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