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New Straits Times
5 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Trump's US$100m crypto mystery man
OF all the riddles wrapped in the digital wallets sending funds to President Donald Trump's World Liberty Financial crypto business, a little-known entity last month became the biggest. A venture calling itself Aqua 1 Foundation and saying it is based in the United Arab Emirates announced in late June that it had bought US$100 million worth of World Liberty's crypto tokens, becoming the largest publicly known investor in the business. Yet a review by Reuters of corporate registries, Aqua 1's digital profile and other public information reveal almost nothing about the source of its capital or the person it named as its founding partner, Dave Lee. Reuters could not find a way of contacting Lee directly. An Aqua 1 press release listed an email for a person named Dora Lee as a media contact. In response to a Reuters request, the company last month provided an unsigned statement, saying: "At this stage, we are not disclosing additional information beyond what has been publicly shared." It added: "Aqua 1 is backed by a group of long-term, mission-aligned partners and led by Dave Lee and a global team with deep expertise in web3 and digital asset infrastructure." The Trump family receives three-quarters of all token proceeds from World Liberty, meaning the purchase by Aqua 1 will have injected tens of millions of dollars into their personal coffers. The Trumps have now earned around US$500 million from World Liberty since the crypto platform was launched last fall, Reuters calculations show. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said while pursuing a pro-crypto agenda, the president has taken steps to insulate himself from his family's gains. "President Trump is dedicated to making America the crypto capital of the world and revolutionising our digital financial technology," Kelly said in an emailed statement. "His assets are in a trust managed by his children, and there are no conflicts of interest." The identities of nearly all of the million-dollar buyers of the World Liberty tokens, which go by $WLFI, are hidden behind anonymous digital wallets. The personal and business backgrounds of several of the top buyers of the tokens, however, are widely known. These include China-born investor Justin Sun, who with a US$75 million investment was the previous biggest publicly known buyer, and Dubai-based market maker DWF Labs, whose managing partner is Andrei Grachev, a crypto entrepreneur from Russia. Representatives for DWF Labs, which in April announced the purchase of US$25 million in World Liberty tokens, said the firm does not know Aqua 1 or Lee. Abu Dhabi's state-affiliated investment fund MGX, which chose World Liberty's crypto stablecoin for its US$2 billion investment in the Binance exchange, did not respond to a request for comment on Aqua 1, nor did Sun's company Tron. Aqua 1 had said in its June 26 announcement that World Liberty would also support its launch of a separate fund aimed at boosting the Middle East's "digital economy transformation". Aqua 1 said it would list the new fund in the Abu Dhabi Global Market financial centre. A day later, World Liberty said on social media that it was "excited to continue to build the next generation of DeFi" with Aqua 1 and Dave Lee. The Abu Dhabi financial centre, when contected, said by email: "Aqua 1 is not registered, licensed, or affiliated" with it "in any capacity". World Liberty and Trump's other crypto businesses are facing growing criticism from his US political rivals and ethics experts over their potential for influence peddling. The potential for conflicts of interest that has accompanied Trump's crypto ventures as his administration shapes regulations on the sector have also drawn criticism. In March, UAE officials committed to a 10-year, US$1.4 trillion investment plan in the US after meeting with Trump. Richard Painter, a professor at University of Minnesota's law school and former chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said the lack of transparency on investors in the Trump family's crypto business, such as Aqua 1, undermined public confidence in the government. Without more information, Painter said, "everybody assumes the worst" in terms of foreign actors trying to influence the White House. "We ought to know who is sending money to the president," he added.
New Straits Times
6 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Gaza truce talks faltering over withdrawal; 17 reported killed in latest shooting near aid
TALKS aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza are stalling over the extent of Israeli forces' withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha said on Saturday. The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are nonetheless expected to continue, the sources said. In Gaza, medics said 17 people trying to get food aid were killed on Saturday when Israeli troops opened fire — the latest mass shooting around a US-backed aid distribution system that the UN says has resulted in 800 people killed in six weeks. Witnesses who spoke to Reuters described people being shot in the head and torso. Reuters saw several bodies of victims wrapped in white shrouds as family members wept at Nasser Hospital. The Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots, but that its review of the incident had found no evidence of anyone hurt by its soldiers' fire. Delegations from Israel and Hamas have been in Qatar for a week in a renewed push for an agreement which envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals, and discussions on ending the war. US President Donald Trump, who hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the past week, had said he hoped for a deal soon. But the Israeli and Palestinian sources described longstanding issues that remain unresolved. A Palestinian source said that Hamas had rejected withdrawal maps which Israel had proposed that would leave around 40 per cent of Gaza under Israeli control, including all of the southern area of Rafah and further territories in northern and eastern Gaza. Two Israeli sources said Hamas wanted Israel to retreat to lines it held in a previous ceasefire before it renewed its offensive in March. The Palestinian source said matters regarding aid and guarantees on an end to the war were also presenting a challenge. The crisis could be resolved with more US intervention, the source said. Hamas has long demanded an agreement to end the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would end the fighting only when all hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled as a fighting force and administration in Gaza. Shooting Saturday's reported mass shooting near an aid distribution point in Rafah was the latest in a series of such incidents that the United Nations rights office said on Friday had seen at least 798 people killed trying to get food in six weeks. "We were sitting there, and suddenly there was shooting towards us. For five minutes we were trapped under fire. The shooting was targeted. It was not random. Some people were shot in the head, some in the torso. One guy next to me was shot directly in the heart," eyewitness Mahmoud Makram told Reuters. "There is no mercy there, no mercy. People go because they are hungry, but they die and come back in body bags." After partially lifting a total blockade of all goods into Gaza in late May, Israel launched a new aid distribution system, relying on a group backed by the United States to distribute food under the protection of Israeli troops. The United Nations has rejected the system as inherently dangerous and a violation of humanitarian neutrality principles. Israel says it is necessary to keep Hamas from diverting aid. The war began on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive. Israel's campaign against Hamas has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, displaced almost the entire population of more than 2 million people, sparked a humanitarian crisis, and left much of the territory in ruins.
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
China and Asean to submit upgraded free trade deal to leaders in October, says China's foreign minister
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing and Asean have agreed on a five-year plan that specifies collaboration in over 40 fields. -- PHOTO: REUTERS SHANGHAI (Reuters): China and the Association of South-East Asian Nations have agreed to submit a pact upgrading their free trade areas to their leaders for approval in October, according to China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday. Negotiations about the so-called 3.0 version of the free trade zone started in November 2022 and were completed in May, seeking to cover areas such as the digital economy, green economy and supply chain connectivity. China and ASEAN also agreed on a five-year action plan that specifies collaboration between the two sides in over 40 fields in the coming years, according to a statement published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, citing Wang's comments after attending the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Wang also said the two sides agreed to strive to complete consultations next year on a code of conduct in the South China Sea - a set of guidelines aiming to manage disputes in the region, where Beijing and several Asean members have overlapping maritime claims. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday he had "positive and constructive" talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as the two major powers vied to push their agendas in Asia at a time of tension over Washington's tariff offensive. The top US diplomat was in Malaysia on his first Asia trip since taking office, seeking to stress the US commitment to the region at the East Asia Summit and Asean Regional Forum, where many countries were reeling from a raft of steep U.S. tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump this week. Rubio also had his first in-person talks with China's foreign minister, which came after Beijing warned Washington against reinstating hefty levies on its goods next month and threatened retaliation against nations that strike deals with the US to cut China out of supply chains. (Reporting by Shanghai and Beijing Newsrooms; Editing by William Mallard) - Reuters
