Trump Family Crypto Venture Partnered With Group Tied to Criminal Network

World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture backed by the Trump family, partnered with a group that previously promoted a project tied to a criminal network and individuals sanctioned by the US and UK governments, according to a CoinDesk investigation published April 7.

The partner in question, AB DAO, signed a deal with World Liberty Financial in November 2024. But AB DAO had connections to a resort project linked to Cambodia's Prince Group, which has been associated with criminal activity. The project also involved an individual the US government has sought to indict and from whom it has attempted to seize Bitcoin.

World Liberty Financial reviewed AB DAO before entering the partnership but failed to uncover these connections, CoinDesk reported. That failure has sparked concerns about whether the Trump-backed venture has adequate procedures for screening partners -- or whether it simply does not care who it does business with.

A Pattern of Self-Dealing

World Liberty Financial launched in 2024 as a decentralized finance (DeFi) project selling cryptocurrency tokens. Critics immediately flagged the venture as a pay-to-play scheme, arguing that the Trump family was using the presidency to enrich itself by selling access through unregulated financial instruments.

The project allows investors to purchase tokens that ostensibly grant governance rights over a DeFi platform. But the real product being sold is proximity to the Trump family and the potential for political favors. It is the kind of corruption that would have triggered congressional investigations in any previous administration.

Now it turns out World Liberty Financial is not even bothering to vet the partners it brings into the fold. AB DAO, a Southeast Asia-based blockchain project, had publicly promoted a resort scheme involving sanctioned individuals and a criminal organization. This was not hidden information. It was out in the open. World Liberty Financial either did not look or did not care.

Who Is Minding the Store?

The fact that World Liberty Financial missed these red flags raises a basic question: does the venture have any meaningful compliance or risk management systems in place?

DeFi projects operate in a largely unregulated space, but that does not mean they are exempt from basic due diligence. If a partner has ties to sanctioned individuals or criminal networks, that is a problem. It exposes the project to legal liability, regulatory scrutiny, and reputational damage.

For a venture backed by the Trump family -- a family that is currently running the executive branch of the US government -- the stakes are even higher. World Liberty Financial is not just another crypto startup. It is a business operation run by people with direct access to the levers of federal power. That makes every partnership, every deal, and every token sale a potential conflict of interest.

What Happens Next?

Market participants are now watching to see whether World Liberty Financial responds to the revelations about AB DAO. Will the venture terminate the partnership? Will it implement stricter vetting procedures? Or will it simply ignore the story and hope it goes away?

There is also the question of whether federal regulators will take an interest. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been aggressive in pursuing crypto projects that sell unregistered securities. World Liberty Financial's token sales could easily fall into that category. Add in the fact that the venture is now linked to a partner with ties to sanctioned individuals, and you have a situation that screams for regulatory scrutiny.

But this is the Trump administration. The people who are supposed to be enforcing the rules are the same people who are profiting from the venture. That is the whole point of World Liberty Financial. It is not a crypto project. It is a corruption scheme dressed up as innovation.

The Bigger Picture

The AB DAO partnership is not an isolated incident. It is part of a broader pattern of the Trump family using the presidency to enrich itself. From foreign governments booking rooms at Trump hotels to cryptocurrency ventures selling access to the Oval Office, the corruption is everywhere. It is so pervasive that it has become normalized.

World Liberty Financial is just the latest example. It is a pay-to-play operation that exists to funnel money to the Trump family in exchange for political influence. The fact that it is partnering with groups tied to criminal networks is not a bug. It is a feature. When you are already selling access to the presidency, why would you care who you are doing business with?

The question is whether anyone in a position of authority will hold the Trump family accountable. So far, the answer has been no. But the evidence keeps piling up. And eventually, even in a system as broken as this one, the weight of the corruption becomes too much to ignore.