TL;DR
- The Official Trump and World Liberty Financial tokens posted some of the worst performances in the market after an investigation into the company was announced.
- The WLFI token trades at $0.1097 after falling 11.4%, with volume jumping 144% and surpassing $321 million, according to CoinMarketCap.
- Lawmaker Ro Khanna requested details on a $500 million investment from the UAE and on the facilitation of a $2 billion transaction involving Binance.
Tokens linked to Donald Trump recorded some of the sharpest declines in the crypto market following the disclosure of a legislative investigation into World Liberty Financial. Official Trump (TRUMP) and World Liberty Financial (WLFI) led losses among top-100 assets after a Democratic lawmaker announced a probe into the company’s business deals prior to Trump’s presidential inauguration.
According to CoinMarketCap, the WLFI token trades at $0.1097 and is down 11.4% over the past 24 hours. Trading volume surged 144% and exceeds $321 million. Over the same period, Official Trump fell 14.7% and is priced at $3.4 per token, with daily volume above $537 million following a 141% increase.
Pressure on both assets intensified after Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from the state of California, launched an investigation to assess potential conflicts of interest in agreements between World Liberty Financial and strategic sectors tied to technological competition between the United States and China. As part of that process, Khanna sent a letter to the company requesting information on a $500 million investment made by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the United Arab Emirates royal family.
Trump’s Role at World Liberty Financial Under Democratic Scrutiny
The investigation draws on a Wall Street Journal report published on January 31, which stated that the investment preceded a subsequent deal under which the Trump administration approved the shipment of roughly 500,000 advanced artificial intelligence chips to the United Arab Emirates. One of the recipients was G42, an AI firm controlled by Tahnoon. The Biden administration had previously blocked similar deals due to ties between G42 and Huawei, as well as other sanctioned Chinese companies.
The probe also examines World Liberty Financial’s role in facilitating a $2 billion investment by Abu Dhabi-based fund MGX into Binance. That transaction was conducted through USD1, a stablecoin issued and managed by the company itself.
World Liberty Financial lists Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to the Middle East, as co-founders emeritus. The chief executive officer is Zach Witkoff, the son of Steve Witkoff. The company maintains that neither Trump nor his family members hold positions as directors, executives, or employees. The firm was contacted for comment, but no response has been provided so far.
