Circle shareholder sues Trump, World Liberty and Steve Witkoff over crypto deals

A shareholder for Circle Internet Financial, the company behind the USDC (USDC) stablecoin, filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump, his family’s crypto company World Liberty Financial, affiliate entities, and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff over a $2 billion deal between a foreign government entity and Binance.

In a Thursday filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, Circle shareholder J. Benjamin Greenberg alleged that Trump, Witkoff and World Liberty caused harm to Circle by creating a pathway for foreign governments to funnel money using the Trump family crypto company’s USD1 stablecoin. This “brazen corruption,” according to Greenberg, leaves Circle “unable to compete” in the stablecoin market with its USDC.

Central to the Circle shareholder’s allegations is an Abu Dhabi entity, MGX, tied to the United Arab Emirates royalty, which invested $2 billion into cryptocurrency exchange Binance using the USD1 stablecoin in 2025. The Wall Street Journal reported in February that another investment vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million.

“By accepting hundreds of millions of dollars from a foreign government, the President and his companies have diverted business from [Circle],” alleged Greenberg, adding:

“Plaintiff asks this Court to declare the President’s corrupt acts a violation of the Constitution, to enjoin the brazen corruption alleged below, to order an accounting of the billions in payments from foreign states to the President and his businesses, to require the companies holding them to disgorge the emoluments the President accepted through them, and for compensatory and punitive damages.”

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Greenberg reported holding 10,000 ordinary shares of Circle as part of his reasons for the lawsuit. He petitioned the court to declare that Trump violated the US Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause through the crypto deals and to issue injunctions preventing the president and Witkoff from pursuing similar financial interests without Congress’ consent.

Zach Witkoff, the son of the Witkoff named in the lawsuit, is a World Liberty co-founder. Trump and his three sons are also co-founders of the crypto venture.

A Circle spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company “did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing,” declining to comment on pending litigation. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said that Trump had “no conflicts of interest“ with his crypto investments, calling the lawsuit “frivolous.“ A spokesperson for World Liberty did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Democrats use ’corruption’ messaging as midterm elections approach

The US president and his family are tied to several crypto ventures that Trump reported netted him $1.4 billion in 2025, while also costing investors about $4.7 billion, according to reporting by the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. The crypto ventures are just a few of many controversial deals Trump faces scrutiny over, including accepting a jet from the government of Qatar.

With less than two weeks until the 2026 midterms and early voting having already started in some US states, Democrats running for reelection are using Trump’s crypto deals as a wedge issue for voters to support candidates in their party. Last week, Senator Mark Warner released a campaign ad highlighting that the president made ”more than $600 million alone from the crypto memecoin.”