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Suspected UK money laundering figure tied to $100M World Liberty token buy
The New York Times said Aqua 1, a UAE-based Web3-native fund, bought $100 million of WLFI tokens in June 2025, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest.
Cointelegraph reports that a Sunday New York Times story linked an individual behind the Aqua 1 entity to a $100 million purchase of World Liberty Financial tokens in June 2025.
The report says the person, identified by the New York Times as Guren Zhou, also known as Bobby, has UK and UAE ties, and that the token purchase financially benefitted members of President Donald Trump’s family as well as World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff.
According to Cointelegraph, Zhou’s involvement came amid scrutiny after he was reportedly arrested in the UK in 2021 for suspected money laundering and after a crypto business he launched collapsed.
Cointelegraph also notes that White House spokesperson Anna Kelley has said there were no conflicts of interest with the president’s investments, while World Liberty’s backers cited in the story include Tron founder Justin Sun, an Abu Dhabi entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and additional support from other parties.