A United Arab Emirates-based fund, Aqua 1 Foundation, has acquired $100 million worth of WLFI tokens, the native cryptocurrency of the World Liberty Financial (WLF) project backed by former President Donald Trump.
In a joint statement, Aqua 1 Foundation said the investment aims to accelerate the development of a blockchain-powered financial ecosystem, bridging traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi). The partners described their goal as creating an institutional-grade marketplace providing broad access to conventional assets through blockchain innovation.
WLFI is the governance token for World Liberty Financial, an Ethereum-based DeFi platform focused on borrowing and lending services that reward users with crypto. Currently, WLFI tokens are available only to accredited investors. The project also offers a stablecoin called USD1, which trades on major exchanges.
World Liberty Financial has recently come under scrutiny due to its use of USD1 in settling a $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund MGX into Binance, a leading crypto exchange.
The project was first introduced last year by Eric Trump and is led by DeFi developers Chase Herro and Zak Folkman, alongside the Trump and Witkoff families. Steve Witkoff, a close associate of Trump and special envoy to the Middle East, is involved in the initiative.
Some lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have expressed concern over potential conflicts of interest, noting that the Trump family has reportedly earned millions from WLFI token sales. President Trump disclosed receiving $57.3 million from the project recently. Senator Richard Blumenthal has launched an investigation into World Liberty Financial and its connections to Trump.
Additionally, DT Marks DEFI LLC, a Trump-linked business entity, reduced its ownership in World Liberty Financial from 60% to approximately 40% this month.