MGX, a fund backed by Abu Dhabi, will make a $2 billion investment in the cryptocurrency exchange Binance Holdings Ltd using a digital coin developed by a Trump family firm.
President Donald Trump’s son Eric announced on Thursday that the USD1 stablecoin, developed by his family’s World Liberty Financial, will be the official stablecoin backing MGX’s investment in crypto exchange Binance. The deal with the foreign government is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the Trump family.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that aim to maintain a one-to-one value with a less volatile asset like the U.S. dollar. Typically, they do this by relying on reserves of cash and cash-equivalent assets like US Treasury bills and money market fund holdings.
Eric Trump made the announcement at Token2049, a crypto conference in the United Arab Emirates, where more than 10,000 digital currency enthusiasts gathered this week.
MGX’s use of the World Liberty stablecoin creates a formal link between the Trump firm and Binance, which has been under U.S. government oversight since 2023, when it admitted to violating federal money laundering laws. MGX is overseen by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of the president of the United Arab Emirates.
MGX also helped bankroll Trump’s $100 billion venture to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure, announced a day after his inauguration.
Zach Witkoff, a founder of World Liberty and the son of White House envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, said at the conference that “we thank MGX and Binance for their trust in us,” adding, “It’s only the beginning.”
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts sharply criticized the latest investment.
“A shady fund backed by a foreign government just announced it will make a $2 billion deal using Donald Trump’s stablecoins,” she said in a statement “Meanwhile, the Senate is gearing up to pass the “GENIUS” Act — stablecoin legislation currently before the Senate that will make it easier for the President and his family to line their own pockets. This is corruption and no senator should support it.”
Eric Trump said in December that his father “wants to make America the crypto capital of the world. He’s been very, very clear with that.”
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