Trump's Crypto Empire Draws Scrutiny Over Foreign Ties

U.S. President Donald Trump's family has been involved in cryptocurrency dealings for some time now, but their latest venture is drawing criticism over conflicts of interest and foreign influence.

The World Liberty Financial, backed by Mr. Trump's family and close allies, received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to set up a federally chartered U.S. trust bank to issue, redeem, and safeguard the USD1, a dollar-backed stablecoin.

The holding company behind this bank, WLTC Holdings, has a shareholder structure that includes Mr. Trump's family entities and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE's national security adviser, who owns a 49% stake through his entity StringZ Holding RSC.

Mr. Trump was not always fond of cryptocurrencies, having bashed Facebook's plans to create a digital currency in the past and calling Bitcoin 'not money' due to its volatility.