Circle Shareholder Sues Trump, World Liberty and Witkoff Over USD1 Stablecoin Deals

TLDR

• A Circle shareholder filed a federal lawsuit against President Trump, World Liberty Financial and Steve Witkoff.
• The suit claims foreign money moving through the USD1 stablecoin left Circle’s USDC unable to compete.
• It centers on a $2 billion MGX investment in Binance that was paid using USD1.
• The plaintiff asks the court to rule that Trump violated the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause.
• The White House called the lawsuit “frivolous,” and Circle said it had no role in the filing.

A shareholder of Circle Internet Financial has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, his family’s crypto company World Liberty Financial, and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

The case was filed Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. It also names several affiliate entities connected to World Liberty.

What the Lawsuit Claims

The plaintiff, J. Benjamin Greenberg, says he holds 10,000 ordinary shares of Circle. The company issues USDC, one of the largest stablecoins on the market.

Greenberg alleges that Trump, Witkoff and World Liberty created a path for foreign governments to move money through USD1, the Trump family company’s stablecoin. He claims this “brazen corruption” left Circle “unable to compete” in the stablecoin market.

At the center of the case is MGX, an Abu Dhabi investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates royal family. In 2025, MGX invested $2 billion into crypto exchange Binance using the USD1 stablecoin.

The Wall Street Journal reported in February that another investment vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to buy 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],” Greenberg alleged in the filing.

Greenberg asks the court to declare that Trump violated the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause. He also wants injunctions that would stop Trump and Witkoff from pursuing similar financial interests without the consent of Congress.

The lawsuit seeks an accounting of payments from foreign states to the president and his businesses. It also asks the court to force the companies to give up those payments and to award compensatory and punitive damages.

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

Crypto Deals Become a Campaign Issue

Trump reported that his family’s crypto ventures earned him $1.4 billion in 2025. The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen reported that the same ventures cost investors about $4.7 billion.

The crypto business is one of several deals drawing scrutiny of the president. Others include his acceptance of a jet from the government of Qatar.

The 2026 midterm elections are less than two weeks away, and early voting has already started in some states. Democrats seeking reelection are using Trump’s crypto deals to appeal to voters.

Last week, Senator Mark Warner released a campaign ad saying the president made “more than $600 million alone from the crypto memecoin.”

A Circle spokesperson said the company “did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing.” The company declined to comment further on the pending case.

A spokesperson for World Liberty did not respond to a request for comment.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump has “no conflicts of interest” with his crypto investments. She called the lawsuit “frivolous.”

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