Circle shareholder sues Trump over UAE-linked crypto deals
Source published: Oct 22, 2026 · 10:59 PM EDT · Event: 2026-10-22
Circle Internet Group shareholder J. Benjamin Greenberg filed a derivative civil lawsuit against President Donald Trump, World Liberty Financial, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and affiliated entities. The complaint alleges that two UAE-linked cryptocurrency transactions violated the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause and harmed Circle, whose USDC stablecoin competes with World Liberty's USD1. The filing begins a civil case; it does not establish that any defendant violated the Constitution or other law.
Response / context
Reporting on the complaint says it challenges a $500 million purchase of a 49% World Liberty stake by an entity backed by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and a separate $2 billion Binance investment settled in World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin by an Abu Dhabi fund chaired by Tahnoon. Greenberg asks for declaratory and injunctive relief, an accounting, disgorgement of any gains held unlawful, disclosure of additional foreign crypto payments and damages. The White House called the lawsuit frivolous and said Trump has no conflicts of interest. World Liberty said the claims are without merit and that the company complies with U.S. law. Circle said the individual shareholder—not Circle—filed the case and that the company did not initiate, direct, authorize or participate in it. A Witkoff spokesperson and the Justice Department had no immediate response in the reviewed reporting. The primary complaint's caption and filing metadata were publicly indexed as Greenberg v. Trump, No. 1:26-cv-03686, Document 1, filed October 22, but the document host denied the Ledger's automated request for the full 70-page PDF. The description of the complaint's allegations and requested relief therefore relies on CNBC-attributed reporting republished by Quartz and on Spectrum News; none of the allegations has been adjudicated.
Dates and scope
Source publication: Oct 22, 2026 · 10:59 PM EDT
Event or conduct: 2026-10-22. J. Benjamin Greenberg filed the civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on October 22. Spectrum News published at 2:12 p.m. EDT and updated at 2:45 p.m.; Quartz updated its reports later October 22. The Ledger reviewed the publicly indexed complaint metadata and the reporting at 10:59 p.m. EDT on October 22. The article publication and source-review date is October 22 EDT, although the UTC publication timestamp is October 23.
Dated report. Publication, event and review times are different; the review time is when the sources were last checked, not a live update.
This brief preserves the available response and disposition. Coverage is non-exhaustive. How we review sources.
Read the original sources
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia via CNBC: Complaint, Greenberg v. Trump, No. 1:26-cv-03686, Doc. 1 ↗
Primary October 22 complaint; the caption and filing metadata were publicly indexed, but the host denied the Ledger's automated request for the full 70-page PDF
- Quartz: Circle shareholder sues Trump over $2 billion in UAE-linked crypto deals ↗
October 22 business report summarizing CNBC's account of the complaint, requested relief, Circle's statement and responses from the White House and World Liberty
- Spectrum News: Lawsuit accuses Trump of illegally profiting from UAE investments in his family's crypto firm ↗
October 22 independent report identifying the transactions, defendants, plaintiff's theory, requested relief and White House response
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