Latest news with #Aqua1
New Straits Times
12-07-2025
- Business
- 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.
International Business Times
12-07-2025
- Business
- International Business Times
Who Is Behind Aqua 1? Mystery UAE Crypto Fund Sends $100M to Trump's Digital Wallet
A relatively unknown crypto fund, Aqua 1 Foundation, claiming to be based in the United Arab Emirates, has quietly emerged as the largest public investor in US President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty. In late June, Aqua 1 announced a massive $100 million investment in the token project. However, Reuters investigations revealed nearly no verifiable information about its origin, funding, or leadership, especially the man named as its founding partner, Dave Lee. No clear digital trail leads to Lee, and Aqua 1's public email contact, Dora Lee, only issued a brief, unsigned statement. The fund described itself as being backed by "long-term, mission-aligned partners" and a team of Web3 experts. But corporate registries across the UAE, including Abu Dhabi's Global Market and Dubai's VARA, showed no record of Aqua 1 or its claimed affiliations. World Liberty's token, $WLFI, has so far funneled around $500 million into the Trump family's pockets, according to estimates. This includes Aqua 1's purchase, which likely sent tens of millions directly to the Trump family trust. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly insisted President Trump had no direct involvement, claiming the assets are managed by his children. The identities behind other large token buyers—such as Justin Sun and DWF Labs—are known, but Aqua 1 remains shrouded in secrecy. Even crypto experts and legal professionals in the UAE couldn't find a trace of Aqua 1 in official records. Its website, created just a month before the investment, lacks any team or ownership details. Ethics watchdogs are alarmed. Richard Painter, former ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, warned that this kind of anonymous investment undermines public trust. "We ought to know who is sending money to the president," he said. Aqua 1 has no confirmed registration in any UAE financial authority. Crypto tracking platforms show its only major activity was sending $80 million to World Liberty. Its Medium profile suggests it manages just $100 million—indicating that the Trump-linked deal is its sole major investment.
Gizmodo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Mystery Man Shines a Spotlight on the Shadiness of Trump's Crypto Venture
Last month, the Aqua 1 Foundation, founded by Dave Lee, purchased $100 million worth of tokens from the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial (WLF. Someone putting cash directly into the President's coffers is a normal thing in the Trump era, but there's something odd about this particular purchase. According to Reuters, Aqua 1 is now the largest publicly known holder of World Liberty Financial tokens, but no one seems to know what the business is or who runs it. Aqua 1 put out a press release last month announcing its purchase of $WLFI coins, claiming to be a 'pioneering Web3-native fund' based in the United Arab Emirates. Per Reuters, the financial center for Abu Dhabi said Aqua 1 'is not registered, licensed, or affiliated' with the government 'in any capacity.' The publication also couldn't find Aqua 1 or its founder registered in the Dubai International Finance Centre, and the government's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority had no record of the foundation, either. The company barely has a footprint anywhere, as its website is just 44 days old according to Whois records related to the domain's registration, set up in late May—about a month before dropping $100 million into the Trump family's pockets. It also doesn't appear to have much going on in terms of investments other than giving money to Trump and friends. Reuters cites data from crypto tracker Arkham that shows the company transferring $80 million to World Liberty Financial in June. Prior to that, it made transfers of $9 million in March and $3 million in April to unidentified wallets and received some $90 million from a single account on the OKX crypto exchange. So basically, all of the money it has is now invested in $WLFI. The founder, Dave Lee, is also a bit of a ghost. He has a small social footprint—his X account was registered in 2023, and he barely posts. In fact, he just started posting to announce Aqua 1's work with World Liberty Financial. He claims in one post that his foundation was 'building with World Liberty Financial' behind the scenes and that Aqua 1 had 'Backed it, partnered with it, and now watching it make history.' He provides no details on what is involved in that supposed partnership, other than giving WLF money. For what it's worth, there appears to be people helping WLF behind the scenes and without disclosures: Bloomberg reported that Binance assisted the company with the coding work prior to the launch of the company's stablecoin, USD1—which made the token functional and allowed it to be used the United Arab Emirates to buy a $2 billion stake in Binance. In this case, we know exactly who runs Binance: Changpeng Zhao, who was charged by the U.S. government for money laundering in 2023 and is now seeking a presidential pardon. Probably a coincidence.
NDTV
11-07-2025
- Business
- NDTV
$100 Million Crypto Tokens, Missing Footprint And The Trump Connection
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 it had bought $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 reveals 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, which was published on as sponsored content, 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." Aqua 1 did not respond to a detailed set of questions for this story. 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 $500 million from World Liberty since the crypto platform was launched last fall, Reuters calculations show. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Reuters that 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 revolutionizing 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." World Liberty and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment. 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, including those of China-born investor Justin Sun, who with a $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 $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 $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. Contacted by Reuters, the Abu Dhabi financial centre 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 U.S. 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, $1.4 trillion investment plan in the United States 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 said. MINIMAL PROFILE Aqua 1 describes itself on its website as a "Web3-native fund based in UAE with a global outlook." Such funds invest in blockchain and crypto firms making products for a futuristic idea of a decentralized internet. Crypto funds seeking to register in the UAE typically choose Abu Dhabi Global Market, the Dubai International Finance Centre or the UAE's Securities and Commodities Authority, said Zainab Kamran, a lawyer at NeosLegal who specializes in digital assets. Registration typically takes between six and 12 months for crypto funds, with funds gravitating towards Abu Dhabi because of its well-developed crypto framework and focus on institutional finance, she said. "The bar is very high," in the UAE, Kamran said. Reuters could not confirm under which authority, if any, Aqua 1 had registered. A spokeswoman for the regulator of the Dubai International Finance Centre directed Reuters to its public register. The news agency could not identify any entity by the name of Aqua 1 or Aqua 1 Foundation, or anyone by the name of Dave Lee. That was also the case at the register of Dubai's crypto regulator, VARA, a spokesman for which said it "has not engaged with Aqua 1 or Mr. Dave Lee." Aqua 1 or Aqua 1 Foundation do not appear in the register of UAE Securities and Commodities Authority-licensed companies, either. The authority did not respond to a request for comment. Aqua 1's website was created in May, a month before it announced its investment, according to two web domain trackers, with the names of its registrants redacted. The website contains no information on Aqua 1's leadership or financial backers. Scant public information exists about Lee. An X account in his name, registered in 2023, has made only a handful of posts, starting with an announcement of the World Liberty deal. The account calls Lee an "investor and dreamer," with a profile picture that features a manga-style portrait of a young man in a bow tie, along with Brazilian, Chinese and U.S. flags. It cites as his locations Sao Paulo, New York, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi. Aqua 1's prior crypto trades suggest a thin investment record. Data from crypto tracker Arkham shows the only large outgoing trades from a wallet tagged " were two transfers totaling $80 million to World Liberty in early June. It had also made transfers of $9 million in March and $3 million in April, both to anonymous crypto wallets. Between March and June, it received about $90 million from an account at the OKX crypto exchange. Aqua 1's assets under management total $100 million, according to a profile on the Medium social publishing platform, suggesting that the World Liberty deal is its only current investment.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's $100 million crypto mystery man
By Tom Wilson, Lawrence Delevingne and David Gauthier-Villars (Reuters) -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 it had bought $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, which was published on as sponsored content, 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.' Aqua 1 did not respond to a detailed set of questions for this story. 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 $500 million from World Liberty since the crypto platform was launched last fall, Reuters calculations show. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Reuters that 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 revolutionizing 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.' World Liberty and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment. 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, including those of China-born investor Justin Sun, who with a $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 $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 $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. Contacted by Reuters, the Abu Dhabi financial centre 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 U.S. 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, $1.4 trillion investment plan in the United States 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 said. Aqua 1 describes itself on its website as a 'Web3-native fund based in UAE with a global outlook.' Such funds invest in blockchain and crypto firms making products for a futuristic idea of a decentralized internet. Crypto funds seeking to register in the UAE typically choose Abu Dhabi Global Market, the Dubai International Finance Centre or the UAE's Securities and Commodities Authority, said Zainab Kamran, a lawyer at NeosLegal who specializes in digital assets. Registration typically takes between six and 12 months for crypto funds, with funds gravitating towards Abu Dhabi because of its well-developed crypto framework and focus on institutional finance, she said. 'The bar is very high,' in the UAE, Kamran said. Reuters could not confirm under which authority, if any, Aqua 1 had registered. A spokeswoman for the regulator of the Dubai International Finance Centre directed Reuters to its public register. The news agency could not identify any entity by the name of Aqua 1 or Aqua 1 Foundation, or anyone by the name of Dave Lee. That was also the case at the register of Dubai's crypto regulator, VARA, a spokesman for which said it 'has not engaged with Aqua 1 or Mr. Dave Lee.' Aqua 1 or Aqua 1 Foundation do not appear in the register of UAE Securities and Commodities Authority-licensed companies, either. The authority did not respond to a request for comment. Aqua 1's website was created in May, a month before it announced its investment, according to two web domain trackers, with the names of its registrants redacted. The website contains no information on Aqua 1's leadership or financial backers. Scant public information exists about Lee. An X account in his name, registered in 2023, has made only a handful of posts, starting with an announcement of the World Liberty deal. The account calls Lee an 'investor and dreamer,' with a profile picture that features a manga-style portrait of a young man in a bow tie, along with Brazilian, Chinese and U.S. flags. It cites as his locations Sao Paulo, New York, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi. Aqua 1's prior crypto trades suggest a thin investment record. Data from crypto tracker Arkham shows the only large outgoing trades from a wallet tagged ' were two transfers totaling $80 million to World Liberty in early June. It had also made transfers of $9 million in March and $3 million in April, both to anonymous crypto wallets. Between March and June, it received about $90 million from an account at the OKX crypto exchange. Aqua 1's assets under management total $100 million, according to a profile on the Medium social publishing platform, suggesting that the World Liberty deal is its only current investment. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
