Circle shareholder sues Trump over $2 billion Binance deal
A Circle shareholder has accused U.S. President Donald Trump and his family-linked company World Liberty Financial of violating the Constitution through cryptocurrency transactions. The plaintiff argues that the use of the USD1 stablecoin in a $2 billion investment in Binance created unfair competition for USDC issuer Circle.
According to Cointelegraph, J. Benjamin Greenberg filed the lawsuit in federal court in the District of Columbia on October 22, 2026. The defendants also include U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and entities associated with World Liberty.Greenberg owns 10,000 shares of common stock in Circle Internet Financial. He claims that the president's family's financial ties to foreign investors have harmed the company and its shareholders.
Binance and MGX deal at center of lawsuit
The allegations concern an investment by Abu Dhabi-based MGX in cryptocurrency exchange Binance. In 2025, the UAE government-linked company invested $2 billion using USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial.
In February 2026, media reports also revealed that an investment entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan had agreed to acquire a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million.
Greenberg alleges that such agreements allow foreign governments to channel funds into businesses associated with Trump's family. The plaintiff argues that this helps promote USD1 while diverting potential customers away from competing stablecoin USDC.
He is asking the court to find a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause, which restricts the president from accepting benefits from foreign governments without congressional consent.
The shareholder also seeks disclosure of the relevant payments, recovery of the funds received and compensation for damages. A separate request calls for a ban on similar transactions in the future without congressional approval.
White House rejects allegations
A Circle spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company had neither initiated nor authorized the lawsuit and was not involved in filing it. The USDC issuer declined to comment further on the proceedings.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump's cryptocurrency investments do not create a conflict of interest and dismissed the allegations as baseless. World Liberty had not provided a comment at the time of publication.
Meanwhile, the U.S. administration has also increased its public focus on combating overseas cryptocurrency scammers. The White House has introduced initiatives targeting criminal networks that lure Americans into fraudulent digital asset investments.
These measures come amid an increase in internet fraud complaints recorded by the FBI. However, the anti-fraud initiative is not directly related to the lawsuit filed by the Circle shareholder.
Earlier, we reported that USD1, the stablecoin linked to Trump's family, lost $400 million in market capitalization. The decline reflected changes in the number of tokens in circulation.
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