Abu Dhabi Royal Holds 49% Stake in Trump-Linked US Bank

Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his co-investors reportedly hold a 49% stake in the Donald Trump family’s planned crypto bank. The latest investment adds to the UAE official’s existing ties with Trump’s crypto ventures.

UAE Royal holds 49% stake in Trump’s crypto bank

According to a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday, the Trump-linked crypto bank has gained significant investments from Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also known as the “spy sheikh.” Reportedly, StringZ Holding RSC holds a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings, the company behind Trump’s proposed crypto bank. The WSJ report revealed that StringZ Holding RSC is controlled by Tahnoon and his co-investors.

Notably, the latest investment adds to the existing connections between Tahnoon and Trump’s crypto projects. Last year, in January, the Sheikh and others invested a staggering $500 million into World Liberty Financial. This gives him a 49% stake in the company. As revealed in Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure, the deal involved about $263 million.

The report comes coinciding with a Public Citizen report that revealed massive $4.7 billion losses for investors of Trump’s crypto ventures. As CoinCodex reported, the significant downturn in the crypto market has affected their investments.

World Liberty’s US crypto bank gets OCC approval

The latest development comes on the heels of Trump’s World Liberty Financial achieving a preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to launch its own national trust bank. With this approval, the company could issue, manage, and safeguard its own stablecoins without depending on a third-party bank.

However, the approval has gained criticism from Democrats and some other financial experts. Critics believe that a crypto bank connected to the president could create potential conflicts of interest, putting regulators in an unusual position. Professor Austin Campbell stated,

"This creates the awkward situation of the OCC needing to police World Liberty, which has an affiliation with the president's family. It is pretty unprecedented."

Crypto critic Senator Elizabeth Warren has also raised concerns about the move. She called it a “brazen act of self-dealing,” adding,

“President Trump is now the first President in history to approve, operate, and supervise his own bank. This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen — and Congress cannot allow it to stand. The Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act will close the door on this kind of unprecedented corruption.”

Unveiling Trump’s business ties in the UAE

It is worth noting that Donald Trump’s connection to the UAE goes beyond his family crypto ventures. The Trump Organization reportedly holds an established real estate presence in the country.

Eric Trump visited Dubai in April 2025 as part of promoting a new Trump Tower developed in partnership with Saudi developer Dar Global. The project involves a hotel, luxury apartments and penthouses, adding to the organization’s growing presence in the UAE.

In addition, the Trump family has been expanding its business interests across the wider Gulf. The family has projects in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman. According to a Wall Street Journal report, these ties generated about $38 million in licensing fees and $59 million in total foreign licensing revenue in 2025.