Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and the Middle East, disclosed $107 million in 2025 income from the holding company that owned his stake in World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto venture he helped launch. Bloomberg first reported the figure on Tuesday, citing a recent financial disclosure. The filing reportedly does not break out the value or income of the underlying assets inside Witkoff’s holding companies, leaving it unclear how much of the $107 million came specifically from World Liberty Financial LLC, the issuer of the USD1 stablecoin and seller of the WLFI token. The same entity reported $34 million in income in 2024. The disclosure surfaced as Senate Democrats and Republicans clash over whether the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act should include conflict-of-interest language covering the president and his family. World Liberty has said Witkoff was divesting and had no operational role, while the White House said he has now fully divested. Trump separately disclosed hundreds of millions tied to World Liberty token sales and equity transactions.

Bloomberg reported on Sept. 9 that a newly released financial disclosure shows Steve Witkoff, an envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump, received $107 million in income in 2025 from a holding company. The filing did not disclose the specific value of the company’s underlying assets, and it also left the source of those returns unspecified. The update centers on what was included in the disclosure and what was not: a nine-figure income figure was listed, while details on the holding entity’s asset base and earnings were not provided. No additional valuation information was included in the document cited by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg reported that Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy and a real estate developer, said in a recent financial disclosure that a holding company he owns generated about $107 million in income for him in 2025. The company holds his interest in crypto project World Liberty Financial LLC, along with resort, hotel and residential real estate assets. The filing did not disclose the specific valuation or income of World Liberty Financial or the other underlying assets. An earlier disclosure showed the holding company generated $34 million in income in 2024. Critics said Witkoff’s stakes in entities including World Liberty Financial present a potential conflict of interest with his government role.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy confirmed the end of the first meeting with US negotiators. US Special Envoy Witkoff expressed encouragement over substantive discussions, while Trump's son-in-law Kushner said the US team looks forward to further progress.

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty Trust Company, N.A. (WLTC), a proposed national trust bank that plans to take over issuance, redemption, and reserve management for the USD1 stablecoin. Attention then shifted from the bank’s planned business lines to its ownership structure. On Aug. 27, The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and co-investors hold a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings through StringZ Holding RSC, while a Trump family-linked entity holds another 38%. OCC records do not disclose the exact percentages, but they do confirm the core structure: WLTC would be wholly owned by WLTC Holdings LLC, and StringZ Holding RSC (DE) LLC, DT Marks SC LLC, and AMGUS, LLC each submitted passive investment commitments tied to indirect interests in the proposed bank. Those commitments limit governance rights, board access, nonpublic information access, and influence over policy, while leaving economic interests intact. WLTC, if finally approved, would operate as a limited-purpose national trust bank without FDIC deposit insurance, focused on institutional USD1 services and digital asset custody rather than retail banking. The proposal also sits alongside scrutiny over Tahnoon-backed investments, Binance’s $2 billion MGX deal settled in USD1, and conflict-of-interest questions raised by U.S. lawmakers.

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency earlier this month granted conditional preliminary approval for World Liberty Financial to form a federally chartered national trust bank to issue, redeem, and custody USD1, the dollar-backed stablecoin it launched last year. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported the ownership structure behind that bank: 49% of WLTC Holdings, the bank holding company, is owned by Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and co-investors through StringZ Holding RSC, while Trump family-linked entities hold 38%. The arrangement mirrors an earlier investment in World Liberty itself. In January 2025, four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, Tahnoon and co-investors invested $500 million through Aryam Investment 1 for a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, a transaction that was not disclosed at the time and was later reported by The Wall Street Journal. Trump’s latest financial disclosure showed that $263 million of that sum went to Trump family entities. If the bank wins final approval, World Liberty would be able to directly issue USD1 and hold the reserve assets backing the stablecoin instead of relying on BitGo. World Liberty has said USD1, with a market capitalization of $4 billion, is backed by U.S. Treasurys and other cash equivalents that are estimated to generate $150 million in annual interest.

Aqua 1 Foundation, an investment firm described as based in the United Arab Emirates, previously spent $100 million buying WLFI tokens issued by Trump family-linked crypto project World Liberty Financial, making it the project’s largest buyer and surpassing Justin Sun’s cumulative $75 million commitment, according to a Caixin report published on Aug. 26. Recent reporting by Caixin and The New York Times tied the funding trail behind Aqua 1 to Zhou Guren, a Chinese national born in Shanghai in 1984. Caixin said Zhou appears on China’s public enforcement database as a dishonest debtor, with about 25 million yuan in unpaid obligations across six cases. The report also said a recent indictment provided by the UK Crown Prosecution Service linked him to a money laundering case in the United Kingdom. Separate materials cited by Caixin and The New York Times connected Zhou to Web3Port, a crypto accelerator and investment platform that later surfaced in the WLFI transaction chain. Blockchain traces cited by The New York Times and Arkham Intelligence pointed to a Web3Port-controlled wallet buying $20 million in WLFI in January 2025 and another wallet labeled “aqua1” buying $80 million in June 2025. The overlap between wallet activity, corporate renaming, and later denials by Aqua 1 has kept questions around the source and structure of the WLFI investment in focus.

Aqua 1 Foundation’s previously disclosed $100 million purchase of WLFI tokens has drawn renewed scrutiny after Chinese media and prior reporting linked the Abu Dhabi-based investment vehicle to Zhou Guren, a Shanghai-born businessman with a controversial public record. Caixin reported on August 26 that Aqua 1’s investment in World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto project, exceeded Justin Sun’s cumulative $75 million commitment and made Aqua 1 the largest buyer of the token. The report identified Zhou as the ultimate financier behind the deal. Caixin said Zhou appears on China’s public enforcement records as a dishonest debtor tied to six cases involving about 25 million yuan in unpaid liabilities. The outlet also said a recent indictment document provided by the UK Crown Prosecution Service links him to a money laundering case in Britain. Reporting by Caixin and The New York Times, along with on-chain data cited from Arkham Intelligence, also connects Zhou to Web3Port and traces a path from a $20 million WLFI purchase in January 2025 to an $80 million purchase in June by a wallet labeled “aqua1.” The case has raised questions about the relationship among Aqua 1, Web3Port, and Zhou’s earlier crypto venture Caduceus, as well as whether the source of funds behind the WLFI investment was fully examined.