Circle shareholder sues Trump, World Liberty and Witkoff over crypto deals

what happened

A shareholder of Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has sued US President Donald Trump, the crypto firm World Liberty Financial, its affiliates and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. According to Cointelegraph, the complaint was filed on Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. It concerns a $2 billion transaction in which Abu Dhabi entity MGX used the USD1 stablecoin to invest in Binance in 2025.

The plaintiff, J. Benjamin Greenberg, who holds 10,000 Circle ordinary shares, argues that this arrangement lets foreign governments route money through USD1 and leaves Circle unable to compete with USDC. He asks the court to find that the president breached the Foreign Emoluments Clause and to block similar deals without Congressional approval. A Circle spokesperson said the company had no part in the filing. At the time of reporting, World Liberty and the White House had not replied to a request for comment.

why it matters

The case adds political pressure on the crypto business of Trump's family ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Public Citizen says those ventures netted him $1.4 billion in 2025, while costing investors about $4.7 billion. For the stablecoin market, the competitive angle matters most: USDC and USD1 are rivals for the same users, and the outcome of the case is still unclear.

market impact

Circle (CRCL), USDC: competition from USD1 and legal risk tied to the lawsuit

tags

instruments