Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the Emirati royal sometimes called the "spy sheikh," is a major shareholder backing a new U.S. bank tied to the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture. Tahnoon and co-investors hold 49% of the holding company that World Liberty Financial created for its banking venture, through an entity called String Z Holding RSC. Last year, Tahnoon backed a $500 million investment into World Liberty Financial. An entity affiliated with the Trump family holds a 38% stake.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency earlier this month granted preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty Financial to launch a federally chartered national trust bank to issue, redeem, and safeguard USD1, its dollar-backed stablecoin. USD1 has a market value of $4 billion, with reserves invested in U.S. Treasurys generating an estimated $150 million annually.

Chief Executive Zach Witkoff, son of U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, said World Liberty aims to build "the most trusted and widely used digital dollar in the world." The move follows President Trump's July 2025 signing of the Genius Act, which lets approved stablecoin firms directly hold reserve assets. World Liberty still must satisfy OCC conditions before becoming operational.