Key highlights:
- Guren “Bobby” Zhou invested $100 million in World Liberty Financial
- Zhou was arrested in Britain in 2021 on suspicion of money laundering
- The source of the $100 million used for the investment was not clearly stated
A $100 million crypto investment from a businessman who was investigated for money laundering in Britain has shone light again on President Donald Trump’s crypto business.
The investment was made through Aqua 1, a UAE-based investment firm. The entity bought $100 million worth of tokens from World Liberty Financial. The move was reportedly initiated by founder Guren “Bobby” Zhou.
WLFI secured $100M from a controversial investor
In a report shared by The New York Times, Zhou was the person behind Aqua 1’s purchase of World Liberty Financial governance tokens. He had a run-in with British authorities back in 2021 for financial crime.
The investment was made through two separate transactions. Blockchain data showed that a wallet linked to Web3Port bought $20 million worth of WLFI tokens in January 2025. Then, another wallet owned by Aqua 1 later added $80 million in June.
Aqua 1 publicly shared the news of the purchase later on but did not say Zhou was the mastermind of the investment.
Aqua 1 Announces $100M Strategic World Liberty Financial Governance Token Purchase to Help Shape and Accelerate Decentralized Finance Adoption https://t.co/qjryzLv2dx
— Aqua1 Foundation (@Aqua1Fndn) July 10, 2025
The company also did not share how the money was raised, which was alarming according to NYT. The newspaper noted that it does not mean the money was illegal.
Zhou had already faced trouble in Britain
British authorities arrested him in 2021 in a money laundering investigation. A court document filed last November accused Zhou of being part of this operation, dating back to 2019.
However, the founder was not charged. Later on, though, two of his employees were charged in September 2025. One pleaded guilty, while the trial for the charged defendants is scheduled for 2028.
Before moving to Abu Dhabi in 2024, Zhou had businesses in Britain that later ran into financial problems. One was a hardwood flooring retailer that left about $5 million owed to a company controlled by Zhou’s father.
He also had a crypto project, Caduceus, that raised about $7.6 million. By 2024, the project’s token had zero worth, according to the report.
Lawmakers have had a lot to say
This is not the first time Trump’s crypto businesses faced questions from lawmakers. In fact, there are still negotiations on ethics rules in the CLARITY Act to avoid controversies like this.
In June, Democratic senators called for hearings into a $500 million investment that was made from Abu Dhabi. The deal reportedly gave a UAE company a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial.
Lawmakers also questioned if these foreign investments could cause conflicts of interest for the Trump administration.
Additionally. Binance reportedly used World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin to settle a $2 billion deal with Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX in 2025. Not long after, Changpeng Zhao, who had been convicted in the United States, was later pardoned by Trump.
Trump denied these allegations, saying he does not run the day-to-day operations of the crypto business.
The White House also rejected conflict-of-interest claims. Officials said Trump’s assets are held in a trust managed by his children, adding that government decisions are made independently of the family’s business interests.
Source:: Trump's World Liberty Financial Got $100M From an Investor Investigated for Money Laundering