Trump Crypto Venture Received $100M Investment From Businessman Under UK Money Laundering Investigation

Aug 9, 2026

President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, received its largest single investment of $100 million from Guren "Bobby" Zhou, a businessman under active UK money laundering investigation. The June 2025 transaction, routed through Zhou's Aqua 1 Foundation, distributed up to $75 million to entities controlled by Trump and his sons. The disclosure has intensified conflict-of-interest concerns, with Senate Democrats demanding hearings and stalling crypto legislation.

Zhou $100M World Liberty investment

▪The Aqua 1 Foundation token purchase, which occurred in June 2025, represents the largest single publicly disclosed investment in World Liberty Financial.
▪Guren "Bobby" Zhou purchased $100 million in digital tokens from World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture, through his UAE-based firm Aqua 1 Foundation.

Zhou UK money laundering investigation

▪British law enforcement officials confirmed that the money laundering investigation involving Guren "Bobby" Zhou remained active as of late July 2026.
▪Guren "Bobby" Zhou was arrested in the United Kingdom in March 2021 on suspicion of money laundering by England's National Crime Agency.
▪A November 2023 British court record accuses Guren "Bobby" Zhou of participating with five other people in a money laundering effort starting in 2019, though he has not been personally charged.

Zhou failed business history

▪Guren "Bobby" Zhou previously operated a failed hardwood flooring retail business in Britain and presided over a collapsed cryptocurrency start-up that lost $7.6 million.
▪Chinese courts have issued civil judgments against Guren "Bobby" Zhou totaling approximately 19.4 million yuan, or $2.4 million, for unpaid loans.
▪Guren "Bobby" Zhou left Britain carrying roughly $5 million in debt owed to his own father's company.

World Liberty 75% revenue distribution

▪The Aqua 1 Foundation transaction also benefited the family of Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's special peace envoy, whose son Zach Witkoff is a co-founder of World Liberty Financial.
▪Under World Liberty Financial policy, 75 percent of token sale revenues after operating expenses, amounting to as much as $75 million of Guren "Bobby" Zhou's purchase, was distributed to a company controlled by Donald Trump and his three sons.

Cryptocurrency anonymity risks

▪The transaction involving Guren "Bobby" Zhou illustrates the ease with which buyers with unknown backgrounds and motivations can use cryptocurrency anonymity to funnel money to a sitting president.
▪The Abu Dhabi financial regulators stated that Guren "Bobby" Zhou's Aqua 1 Foundation was not registered, licensed, or affiliated with them, despite the firm's claims of affiliation.

Presidential financial conflicts

▪Donald Trump's 2025 financial disclosure form showed that he collected over $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency-related income during his first year back in the White House.
▪Five Democratic senators formally demanded hearings into the Trump family's cryptocurrency holdings and foreign investors, conditioning their support for the digital asset regulatory CLARITY Act on these disclosures.