Circle shareholder sues Trump over UAE crypto deals

A Circle shareholder sued President Donald Trump, alleging UAE-linked cryptocurrency payments enriched his family and diverted business from USDC.

The complaint, filed Oct. 22 in Washington federal court, challenges a $500 million investment in Trump’s World Liberty Financial and a separate $2 billion transaction settled using its USD1 stablecoin.

The lawsuit alleges that “No president in American history has profited from his office so brazenly,” arguing that the payments violated constitutional restrictions on benefits from foreign governments.

J. Benjamin Greenberg, a former Circle employee, brought the case on the company’s behalf. The complaint says he currently holds 10,000 Class A shares of the USDC stablecoin issuer.

A UAE stake followed by a $2 billion stablecoin payment

The parties agreed to the first deal four days before Trump’s January 2025 inauguration. Aryam, an investment vehicle allegedly linked to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE national security adviser, agreed to pay $500 million for 49% of World Liberty.

The complaint says $187 million of the $250 million initial installment went to Trump-linked entities. The remaining $250 million was due in July, after Trump returned to the White House.

The complaint cites $263 million in 2025 equity-sale proceeds to two related entities, about $76 million above their share of the initial payment.

The lawsuit treats that difference as evidence that UAE-linked proceeds reached the president’s businesses while he was in office, alleging that “millions of dollars from that deal” flowed to Trump after his inauguration.

Greenberg argues that the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause barred the president from accepting the alleged benefits without congressional approval. “Congress has not consented,” the filing states.

Aryam also obtained seats on World Liberty’s board, placing executives tied to Sheikh Tahnoon’s business network inside the company before it launched USD1.

That token became central to a second transaction. In March 2025, Abu Dhabi-backed MGX announced a $2 billion investment in Binance, saying settlement would occur in a stablecoin without naming one. USD1 did not launch until March 25, almost two weeks after the announcement.

On May 1, World Liberty disclosed that it would use USD1. According to the complaint, its circulating supply rose by about two billion tokens in the preceding eight days, which it attributes mostly to MGX’s purchase.

The suit says MGX purchased USD1 with $2 billion in cash before transferring the tokens to Binance. That created reserves backing USD1, generating potential interest income for World Liberty as long as the tokens remained outstanding.

The complaint argues that references to “tokens and stablecoins, holding companies and reserve yields” obscure what it calls “the oldest form of public corruption,” pointing to subsequent US decisions involving advanced AI chips for the UAE, a pardon for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and regulatory approval for a World Liberty-linked bank.

Those connections form part of Greenberg’s allegations of improper foreign influence. A court has yet to determine whether the transactions or government decisions violated the law.

Why the shareholder says USDC lost business

The complaint then turns to a commercial relationship that, it argues, put Circle in line for the MGX business.

Circle had agreed in November 2024 to pay Binance $60 million upfront plus monthly fees. The following month, Binance announced it would adopt USDC for its corporate treasury.

MGX’s original investment announcement did not specify a stablecoin, and USDC was already widely used. Greenberg alleges Binance asked MGX to settle in USD1 even though the token had yet to launch when the investment was unveiled.

The filing also records contrary accounts: Binance and World Liberty deny that Binance arranged the use of USD1. It cites World Liberty’s May 2025 letter to US senators saying the deal would otherwise have been settled in foreign currency, most likely UAE dirhams.

That decision created a substantial income opportunity for World Liberty. Stablecoin businesses earn revenue from cash and short-term securities backing their tokens while the coins remain in circulation.

“Circle’s losses can be measured,” the filing says. At Circle’s reserve returns of 4.1% in 2025 and 3.5% in the second quarter of 2026, $2 billion in additional reserves could have generated $70 million to $82 million annually.

Those numbers describe potential gross reserve income and not an established net loss. They depend on MGX having selected USDC and the tokens remaining outstanding. Circle also shares reserve revenue with distribution partners.

The shareholder alleges that competition continued after the original payment, citing USD1 trading incentives and Binance’s plans to shift collateral backing Binance-Peg BUSD into the token.

He argues that USD1 offered foreign states “the opportunity, by enriching the President, to obtain favorable treatment” that an ordinary rival could not match.

Greenberg must also establish why he may sue for Circle without seeking board approval. His complaint argues that directors could not independently assess a claim against the president given their regulatory exposure and Circle’s continuing business relationship with Binance.

He seeks an order blocking further prohibited foreign benefits, requiring Trump-linked companies to account for and surrender disputed proceeds, and awarding damages to Circle.

The requested injunction specifically targets reserve income from USD1 held for foreign-state entities, placing continuing payments associated with the MGX transaction within the court relief Greenberg is seeking.