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Regulation & Policy · 2 min read

Former Circle Engineer Sues Trump Over World Liberty Financial Deals

A derivative suit claims UAE-linked investments in World Liberty Financial breached the Emoluments Clause and diverted revenue from USDC.

Editorial oversight: Julian Mercer, Chief Editor
Bearish
$WLFI $0.0537 −3.2% $USDC $1.00 +0.0%

At a glance Enforcement action

What happened
Circle shareholder J. Benjamin Greenberg sued Donald Trump on Oct. 22, alleging UAE-backed World Liberty Financial deals broke constitutional emoluments rules [1].
Why it matters
The complaint alleges World Liberty's USD1 adoption diverted up to $82 million in annual interest earnings away from Circle's USDC reserves [1].
Who is affected
Circle, World Liberty Financial, Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, and stablecoin market participants [1].
What's next
Initial proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia regarding motion filings and standing determinations [1].
Primary source
unchainedcrypto.com: Ex-Circle Engineer Takes Trump to Court Over Emirati Payments to World Liberty Financial

Key points

  • Circle shareholder J. Benjamin Greenberg filed a derivative lawsuit against Donald Trump alleging foreign emoluments violations 1.
  • The suit alleges UAE-linked transactions steering $2 billion through USD1 cost Circle up to $82 million annually in reserve yield 1.
  • Circle disavowed the litigation, stating it did not authorize or participate in the legal filing 1.

Former Circle software engineer J. Benjamin Greenberg filed a derivative lawsuit on Oct. 22, 2026, against President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging unconstitutional foreign emoluments and lost business for stablecoin issuer Circle 1. Greenberg, who holds 10,000 shares in the company, brought the action on Circle's behalf 1. Circle promptly distanced itself from the litigation, stating that it did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the action 1. At the time of writing, $WLFI traded down 3.6% over the prior 24 hours at $0.0537.

The complaint centers on two transactions involving United Arab Emirates interests tied to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan 1. The first transaction, executed on Jan. 16, 2025, involved Aryam Investment 1 acquiring a 49% stake in Trump family venture World Liberty Financial for $500 million, allegedly directing $187 million upfront and another $75.5 million post-inauguration to entities affiliated with Trump 1. The second transaction involved Abu Dhabi firm MGX completing a $2 billion investment into Binance using World Liberty's stablecoin, USD1 1.

Alleged Commercial Impact on Circle

The complaint contends that USD1 competes directly with Circle's $USDC and that the foreign transactions deprived Circle of interest yield on cash reserves 1. Reserve yields represented roughly 96% of Circle's 2025 revenue 1. Greenberg estimates Circle forfeited between $70 million and $82 million annually in interest income because MGX settled its Binance transaction using USD1 rather than USDC 1. Trump's 2025 financial disclosures reflected roughly $1.4 billion in crypto-derived earnings across tokens, World Liberty, and stablecoins 1.

The legal filing also names Middle East Special Envoy and World Liberty co-founder Steve Witkoff alongside four affiliated holding companies 1. Greenberg seeks a judicial ruling declaring the foreign payments unconstitutional under the Foreign Emoluments Clause, an injunction against future payments absent congressional approval, an accounting of funds, damages against World Liberty, and the transfer of disputed proceeds to the U.S. Treasury 1. World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman rejected the claims as meritless, while White House spokesperson Anna Kelly described the action as frivolous and denied the existence of conflicts of interest 1.

Questions this story raises

Did Circle authorize the lawsuit against Donald Trump?
No. Circle explicitly stated that it did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the derivative filing brought by shareholder J. Benjamin Greenberg [1].
What relief does the lawsuit seek?
The complaint asks the court to declare the payments unconstitutional, halt further foreign payments without congressional consent, mandate an accounting, award damages against World Liberty, and deliver proceeds to the U.S. Treasury [1].

Sources

  1. [1] Ex-Circle Engineer Takes Trump to Court Over Emirati Payments to World Liberty Financial — unchainedcrypto.com, October 23, 2026

Written by Basis Desk's newsroom system from the primary sources above and machine-verified against them before publication. Market figures marked "at the time of writing" come from live exchange data. Report an error: corrections@basisdesk.news · corrections policy.

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