Entities backed by UAE National Security Advisor Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan last year snapped up a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, a US-based crypto company linked to US President Donald Trump, World Liberty spokesman David Wachsman confirmed to the New York Times after the Wall Street Journal broke the news, citing company documents and people familiar with the matter. The agreement was quietly signed in January 2025, days before the US president’s inauguration.

What we know: The buyer was Aryam Investment 1, a Tahnoon-backed vehicle set to become World Liberty Financial’s largest shareholder and take two board seats. The stake was valued at USD 500 mn, with USD 250 mn paid upfront — USD 187 mn of that first tranche flowed to Trump family entities, with the remainder going to companies linked to World Liberty’s founders.

The timeline: Aryam Investment was registered as an entity roughly a week after US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff’s visit to the UAE. The Emirates made its USD 1.4 tn investment pledge to the US a few months later, and it was later confirmed that a previous MGX USD 2 bn investment in crypto exchange Binance had been made using World Liberty Financial’s USD 1 stablecoin. A final green light for Nvidia chip sales to the UAE came later inOctober.

Our take

The UAE has been pushing for broader access to US tech. The disclosure lands as Sheikh Tahnoon’s efforts to unlock advanced AI infrastructure appear to be gaining traction, following negotiations at the start of last year to ease export restrictions as Abu Dhabi scaled its compute ambitions.

The payoff so far: As we reported, Washington has since cleared exports of several USD bns worth of Nvidia AI chips to the UAE under a new framework tied to Emirati investment in US AI infrastructure, easing earlier curbs. The shift has helped advance projects such as the 5 GW Stargate UAE AI campus, priced at USD 30 bn, with initial capacity expected to come online within the next couple of months.

Still moving: The UAE is continuing to build longer-term access pathways. Last month, Abu Dhabi joined Pax Silica, a US-led initiative focused on securing AI-era supply chains — from advanced semiconductors to power and connectivity.

What to watch: Whether the new stake has any bearing on the pace or scope of approvals for future US chip exports tied to large-scale compute projects already underway.

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