Trump-backed World Liberty faces scrutiny over alleged rogue-state links

A new letter sent to the U.S. government is pressing for an investigation into Trump’s crypto company World Liberty Financial, after Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed said the firm sold its $WLFI tokens to people tied to Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Tornado Cash, according to CNBC.

The two senators told Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday that the firm could pose a national‑security problem because of how it handled its early token buyers and how much control those buyers now hold.

The company is run and owned by the Trump family, and the senators argue that the firm failed to stop suspicious buyers from getting access to the token that lets holders vote on decisions inside the company.

The watchdog Accountable.US said the firm sold to “various highly suspicious entities,” and the senators said these sales put people with hostile ties “at the table” inside a company connected to the White House.

Senators demand answers and question who bought the $WLFI tokens

Elizabeth said the report showed that World Liberty sold $10,000 worth of $WLFI in January to traders who had been moving funds with a wallet now sanctioned for ties to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

The same watchdog said the company moved tokens to a sanctioned Russian ruble‑backed evasion tool, an Iranian crypto exchange, and Tornado Cash.

Jack and Elizabeth wrote that these connections show weak checks and that the company failed to stop risky buyers.

World Liberty denied the accusations. A spokesperson told CNBC there was “no conflict of interest between World Liberty Financial, a private crypto company with zero political power, and the U.S. government.”

The spokesperson also allegedly said the company “conducted rigorous AML/KYC checks” on everyone in the presale and said it turned down “millions of dollars” from people who failed the checks.

AML refers to anti‑money‑laundering rules, and KYC is meant to verify identities. The senators said the watchdog’s findings show the opposite.

The company lists Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Barron Trump as co‑founders on its site, and Donald Trump is listed as “Co‑Founder Emeritus.” One entity tied to the family, DT Marks DEFI LLC, holds 22.5 billion tokens worth more than $3 billion and gets 75% of the money from every token sale.

Jack and Elizabeth wrote, “That means every time a governance token is sold, three‑quarters of that money goes directly to President Trump and his family, even for sales to entities linked to North Korea and Russia.”

Lawmakers widen the scrutiny to stablecoins, Binance links, and MGX investment

Another report from August estimated that $11.6 billion, or 73% of Trump’s wealth, is now tied to crypto, including his $TRUMP memecoin. Reuters said his federal financial disclosures show that crypto added a large amount to his personal wealth last year.

Jack and Elizabeth said the timing of their letter matters because Congress is looking at new crypto rules that might exempt governance tokens like $WLFI from oversight and from record‑keeping requirements.

World Liberty plans to grow by launching a new debit card and tokenized commodities, but the senators said the token sales show “an absence of robust sanctions and anti‑money‑laundering controls” and that the company “risks supercharging illicit finance activity.”

They also said the Trump family’s role creates a conflict because government officials report to a president who benefits from the token’s sales.

Elizabeth has pressed the company before, including on its stablecoin USD1, which is backed by dollars and short‑term U.S. Treasuries.

USD1 was used by the UAE‑backed fund MGX for a $2 billion investment into Binance, a move that increased the token’s volume. The New York Times said the UAE secured a large chip agreement from the U.S. soon after the MGX deal went through.

On Oct. 23, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, who had admitted to allowing money laundering at the exchange. Days later, Trump told CBS “60 Minutes” he did not know Zhao, even though he had issued the pardon.

The Wall Street Journal said Binance helped MGX settle its USD1 deal and helped build the tech used for the stablecoin. Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance, denied that Binance played any part in MGX’s choice to use USD1.

Donald Trump Jr. and Zach Witkoff, the CEO of World Liberty and the son of U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, told CNBC the concern about conflicts was “complete nonsense.” Zach said, “Don and my World Liberty mission is big, but our dads’ mission is much bigger. They’re not focused on stablecoins, nor are they involved in a stablecoin business.”

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