Elizabeth Warren Demands An Investigation Of Trump-linked Crypto Firm Over 'illicit Finance'

• Elizabeth Warren wants the DOJ and the Treasury to probe World Liberty Financial.
• Warren raised concerns about "illicit finance" risks associated with the Trump-linked crypto firm.
• "I write to ask if the Trump Administration will finally investigate the national security risks posed by World Liberty Financial."

Elizabeth Warren says a crypto venture tied to the president and his family represents a national security risk.

The Democratic Senator from Massachusetts penned a letter to Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent and Attorney General Todd Blance asking them to investigate World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm part-owned by the Trump family that issues its own crypto token.

"I write to ask if the Trump Administration will finally investigate the national security risks posed by World Liberty Financial and any of its affiliated entities (collectively 'WLF') given yet another round of troubling public reports about the company's connections to people or entities engaged in illicit finance," Warren wrote.

The firm's $WLFI token was launched by Trump in September 2024, and has a market cap of about $1.8 billion. Filings revealed earlier this year that token sales and equity stakes netted Trump roughly $500 billion, part of a massive windfall the president reaped from crypto deals in 2025.

Observers have raised concerns about Trump's crypto ventures, citing conflicts of interest and negative consequences for crypto market sentiment. Warren has made similar arguments, stating that White House and congressional officials should be barred from trading crypto. She's also previous raised concerns regarding crypto bills championed by Republican politicians.

Her letter was delivered as the Senate failed to pass a key piece of crypto legislation on Tuesday. The Clarity Act failed to advance in a procedural vote, dealing a major blow to the industry, which has been pushing for the legislation meant to provide a regulatory framework for digital assets. Bitcoin fell 3% after the vote.

Tn Tuesday's letter, Warren focused on a $100 million WLF purchase made by Guren "Bobby" Zhou, a businessman that the New York Times reports has been investigated for money laundering. The purchase was made through his company, Aqua 1, which Warren flagged as a suspicious entity, noting that its source of funds was unclear.

"Although Aqua 1 describes itself as being 'based in the UAE,' the entity does not appear to be formally registered there," she wrote. "Aqua 1's website was created a month before it announced its purchase of WLF tokens and provides virtually no information about its leadership or financial backers."

This isn't the first time the senator has sounded the alarm on WLF tokens being sold to potentially problematic international buyers.

"I first requested an investigation into WLF in November 2025, after it reportedly sold tokens to buyers that conducted business with North Korean state-sponsored hackers, sanctioned Russian money-laundering entities, and other illicit actors," she added, noting that she reiterated that call in May 2026.

She requested that Bessent and Blanche provide written answers to several questions, including what steps their agencies have taken to investigate perceived national security risks and to identity the source of the funds that have purchased large amounts of WLF tokens.

Neither Bessent nor Blanche responded to request for comment.