# How Islamabad bought access to Trump with $500 million in crypto > In January 2026, inside an ornate building in the heart of Islamabad, Pakistan's most powerful leaders gathered to welcome a particular visitor: - Author: Maxime Marquette - Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co) - Section: Reportage - Published: 2026-07-05 - Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/comment-islamabad-a-achete-l-acces-a-trump-avec-500-millions-en-cryptomonnaie ## Introduction: a crypto ceremony that looked like a state visit ### Islamabad, January 2026, a setting far too grand for a simple memorandum In **January 2026**, inside an ornate building in the heart of **Islamabad**, **Pakistan's** most powerful leaders gathered to welcome a particular visitor: **Zach Witkoff**, the young **CEO** of **World Liberty Financial**, the cryptocurrency platform co-founded by American president **Donald Trump**. According to **Bloomberg**, the guest list and the ceremony's pageantry gave the impression of a genuine state visit, even though it was officially only the signing of a non-binding, exploratory memorandum of understanding on the use of a **stablecoin**. In the group photo released that day, **Witkoff**, **32 years old** and son of presidential adviser **Steve Witkoff**, posed alongside Pakistani prime minister **Shehbaz Sharif** and military chief **Asim Munir**, the country's most powerful man. That level of representation, for what was supposedly a mere technical agreement on a digital currency, already said a great deal about what the meeting was truly about. *When a prime minister and an army chief show up in person to sign an "exploratory" document about a cryptocurrency, that is no longer finance, it is diplomacy in disguise. And I think that is exactly what Pakistan wanted everyone to understand.* ## The financial architecture behind World Liberty Financial ### A family business at the heart of the executive branch **World Liberty Financial** was founded in **September 2024** by **Donald Trump** and his special envoy **Steve Witkoff**, with their respective sons taking part. According to **Wikipedia** and multiple financial reports, a business entity called **DT Marks DEFI LLC**, affiliated with **Donald Trump**, holds roughly **60%** of the holding company **WLF Holdco LLC**, and is entitled to **75%** of the revenue from sales of its digital tokens. **Eric Trump** and **Donald Trump Jr.** manage the company's day-to-day operations, while their father is now officially listed as **co-founder emeritus**. The **New York Times** has also reported that the firm has struck mutual investment agreements with several companies, raising questions about a possible political **quid pro quo** dressed up as private business transactions. *I know of no other American president in modern history whose family directly pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign entities while he sat in the Oval Office. That it may be technically legal makes it no less troubling.* ### The central role of Steve Witkoff and his son **Steve Witkoff**, **Donald Trump's** special envoy for the **Middle East**, occupies a singular position: co-founder of **World Liberty Financial** while simultaneously handling sensitive diplomatic matters on behalf of the American government. His son **Zach Witkoff** runs the company's daily operations and personally negotiated the deal with **Pakistan**. This family arrangement, in which the father manages official diplomacy while the son negotiates business deals with the same foreign governments, illustrates a troubling closeness between the public and private spheres at the top of the American administration. ## Half a billion dollars revealed in financial disclosures ### The numbers that made observers do a double take According to an **Al Jazeera** report published on **July 3, 2026**, **Donald Trump's** **2025** financial disclosures revealed that his family had earned more than **$500 million** from the sale of **World Liberty Financial** tokens alone, an amount added to hundreds of millions more from other cryptocurrency-related activities. That figure immediately caught the attention of financial journalists, both for its scale and for how quickly this fortune accumulated. **CNBC** also reported in **June 2026** that a separate deal signed with the company **Alt5 Sigma** the previous August had, on its own, generated roughly **$500 million** more for the president and unspecified family members, through a complex exchange of **WLFI** tokens for shares and cash. *Five hundred million here, five hundred million there: at this rate, it becomes hard to keep track of the sums moving between foreign governments, sovereign funds, and the family of the president of the United States. That is exactly the kind of blur that should worry any citizen, regardless of party.* ## Pakistan, the platform's first sovereign partner ### A memorandum signed at the highest level of the state According to **Al Jazeera**, **Pakistan's** **Ministry of Finance** signed, in **January 2026**, a memorandum of understanding with **SC Financial Technologies**, a subsidiary of **World Liberty Financial**, to explore using its dollar-pegged **stablecoin**, called **USD1**, for cross-border payments. Pakistani finance minister **Muhammad Aurangzeb** signed the agreement directly with **Zach Witkoff**, in the presence of the country's prime minister and military chief. This partnership followed an initial letter of intent signed in **April 2025** between **World Liberty Financial** and the **Pakistan Crypto Council**, according to reporting from the **Economic Times** and **Arab News**. Pakistan thus became, according to **Al Jazeera**, one of the very first sovereign governments to publicly align itself with the **Trump** family's business. *Pakistan did not choose this partnership by chance or out of deep technological conviction. It chose the fastest route to the White House's ear, and that route clearly ran through the presidential family's portfolio.* ### The Pakistani economic context that explains the rush **Pakistan** has spent several years grappling with a severe economic crisis, marked by limited foreign currency reserves and persistent dependence on loans from the **International Monetary Fund**. According to **Moneycontrol**, Pakistan's own military, under financial pressure, saw this partnership with **World Liberty Financial** as a chance to strengthen ties with **Washington** at a critical moment. This economic distress partly explains why **Islamabad** was willing to invest considerable political capital, including the personal presence of its prime minister and military chief, in a technical agreement whose real value lay more in the official photograph than in its concrete substance. ## Six months later, still no concrete results ### Zero pilot project, zero license, zero transaction Nearly **six months** after the signing ceremony, Pakistani officials confirmed to **Al Jazeera** that there was still no pilot project using the **USD1 stablecoin**, no license issued, and no known transaction involving this digital currency. A senior banking official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the agreement as **"an exploratory technical dialogue, with no commitment to deploy any stablecoin whatsoever."** **Karachi**-based economist and commentator **Khurram Husain** summed up the situation bluntly to **Al Jazeera**: **"The memorandum was nothing more than an instrument of access. It had no real policy basis. Access was the calculation, and it paid off spectacularly."** *That is the most honest admission in this entire affair: no one, neither on the Pakistani side nor the American side, seriously claims this deal was about financial technology. Everyone knew it was a transaction of influence, except perhaps the citizens who should be outraged by it.* ## Political access as the real currency at play ### A parallel diplomacy running through Iran and India The most tangible gain for **Islamabad**, according to **Khurram Husain** as cited by **Al Jazeera**, was privileged access to **Trump's White House**, access that was later reinforced in the context of diplomacy surrounding the war in **Iran**. **Mother Jones** also documented, in an investigation published in **April 2026**, links between regional negotiations involving **Iran** and **Zach Witkoff's** personal involvement in the Pakistan matter. **India Today** further noted that the original agreement between **Pakistan** and **World Liberty Financial** was signed just ten days after the **Pahalgam** attack, which fueled questions about a possible link between this financial transaction and **Trump's** sudden eagerness to offer mediation in the conflict between **India** and **Pakistan**. *I cannot prove a direct causal link between the cryptocurrency money and Trump's diplomatic decisions regarding India and Pakistan. But the timing coincidence is exactly the kind of detail no serious columnist should ignore, even without absolute certainty.* ## A dual-hatted individual embodying the conflict of interest ### Adviser to World Liberty and representative of Pakistan at once According to **Moneycontrol**, British-Pakistani entrepreneur **Bilal bin Saqib** was named an adviser to **World Liberty Financial** while simultaneously heading the **Pakistan Crypto Council**, before becoming special assistant to the Pakistani prime minister on **blockchain** matters. This dual role meant, in effect, that a single person represented both **Pakistan's** interests and the **Trump** family's interests in the negotiations. This kind of institutional overlap, rarely seen at such a high level of government, shows just how blurred the lines between official diplomacy, private interests, and presidential family business have become in this case. No American law has been formally established as violated, but the appearance of a conflict of interest remains, according to several analysts cited by the international financial press. *Having a single person sit on both sides of the negotiating table is not a minor administrative detail, it is the perfect illustration of what this transaction really represented: a closed circle where personal interests and state interests blend together with no visible safeguard.* ### No law formally broken, but a troubling appearance It is worth noting that, to date, no American judicial authority has formally concluded that **Bilal bin Saqib** or the parties involved violated any specific law by holding these dual roles. The legal gray area surrounding rules applicable to cryptocurrency companies tied to foreign or American officials remains largely unaddressed by existing legislation. This regulatory vacuum does not, however, erase the ethical problem raised by this situation, which shows just how much the cryptocurrency industry currently operates in a space largely lacking safeguards suited to the challenges of international conflicts of interest. ## Other governments followed the same path ### The United Arab Emirates and an even more staggering offer **Pakistan** was not the only sovereign actor to partner with **World Liberty Financial**. According to the **Wall Street Journal**, an emissary for **Abu Dhabi's** crown prince, **Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan**, quietly struck a deal with the **Trump** family to acquire a **49%** stake in the company, for **$500 million**, just four days before the **January 2025** presidential inauguration. In **May 2025**, the Emirati company **MGX**, also linked to **Tahnoun bin Zayed**, announced it would use **$2 billion** in **USD1 stablecoin** to finance a transaction with the exchange platform **Binance**, according to **Wikipedia** and corroborating financial reports. This Emirati precedent shows just how much the Pakistani model fits into a broader strategy pursued by the American presidential family. *A foreign government buying a stake in a sitting American president's private company, four days before his inauguration, will remain for me one of the most staggering facts of this presidency, and yet it has drawn only a fraction of the attention it deserves.* ## The US Senate demands answers ### An investigation demanded under oath According to **CNN**, Democratic senator **Richard Blumenthal** publicly demanded, on **June 25, 2026**, a formal investigation into allegations surrounding a secret **$500 million** investment made by Emirati interests in the **Trump** family's cryptocurrency company, insisting that the officials involved **"say so under oath."** This call for a Senate investigation illustrates the scale of bipartisan concern, even though the Republican majority in **Congress** has not formally acted on it to date. **Donald Trump** himself denied any knowledge of this specific transaction when questioned by reporters in the **Oval Office**, according to **Bloomberg**: **"I don't know anything about it. I know that crypto is a big deal,"** he reportedly said in early **February 2026**. *A president claiming he was unaware of a $500 million transaction involving his own family business, signed four days before his inauguration, does not reassure me in the least. Either he knew and is lying, or he genuinely did not know, and that raises an equally serious question about who really controls this fortune in his name.* ## The White House defends the absence of a conflict of interest ### A legal argument that struggles to convince **White House** spokesperson **Anna Kelly** stated, according to **CNBC**, that **"President Trump's assets are held in a trust. There is no conflict of interest."** Separately, **Trump Organization** spokesperson **Kimberly Benza** said that neither **Eric** nor **Donald Trump Jr.** had any direct visibility into **Alt5 Sigma's** operations, the partner company that generated part of the family's gains. These official assurances have not dispelled the doubts of legal observers, who point out that the trust structure invoked in no way prevents members of the presidential family from continuing to run and directly benefit from **World Liberty Financial's** daily operations, a situation with no real precedent in recent American presidential history. *A trust that does not stop the president's sons from running the company day to day and pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars from it is not really a trust in the sense most citizens understand that word. It is a legal costume, not a real barrier.* ### The precedent this trust structure creates If this loose interpretation of a presidential trust becomes the accepted norm, it would open the door for future presidents, Republican and Democrat alike, to keep effectively running family businesses while occupying the **Oval Office**, under the cover of a nominal legal structure alone. Several American constitutional scholars have already voiced concern about this precedent. This gradual normalization of presidential conflicts of interest, if confirmed, would represent a significant step back from the ethical standards observed by previous American administrations, regardless of their political affiliation. ## The quiet losses of small investors ### A stark contrast with the family's profits While the **Trump** family was pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars, **CNBC** reported that the deal with **Alt5 Sigma** left many ordinary investors with significant losses, as the company found itself unable to sell the **WLFI** tokens locked up under the very terms of the agreement signed in **August 2025**. This contrast between the presidential family's guaranteed gains and the risks borne by outside investors illustrates a troubling structural asymmetry. This kind of mechanism, in which company insiders are contractually protected while public shareholders absorb market volatility, is not unique to **World Liberty Financial**, but it takes on a particular dimension when the main beneficiaries simultaneously hold the country's highest executive offices. *Ordinary investors losing money while the president's family pockets hundreds of millions thanks to favorable contract clauses is a fairly blunt summary of what many people would call a two-tier system.* ## A strategy that goes well beyond the Pakistan case alone ### A model that can be replicated worldwide The **Pakistan** case is just one example among several of a broader strategy the **Trump** family appears to have deployed around the world: offering privileged access to foreign governments in exchange for investments or partnerships in its cryptocurrency businesses. The **United Arab Emirates**, as documented earlier, is another striking example, with even larger sums at stake. This approach effectively turns access to the American presidency into a tradeable asset, a dynamic that could set a lasting precedent for how future American leaders, of any party, manage their personal financial interests once in power. *If this model becomes the norm rather than the exception, every foreign government seeking a favor from Washington will now know exactly where to knock: the sitting president's family portfolio. That is a deep institutional drift, far beyond a simple media embarrassment.* ## What this affair reveals about the Trump doctrine ### Firm on the military front, troubling on the domestic front It is important to distinguish two very different realities in the **Trump** administration's record. On the military and diplomatic front, facing adversaries like **Russia**, **China**, **Iran**, and **North Korea**, its posture of Western firmness deserves recognition and, at times, praise. But on the domestic front, and particularly in how it manages its own family financial interests, this Pakistani crypto affair illustrates an ethical drift that deserves an equally firm denunciation. These two realities do not cancel each other out. One can recognize the strategic value of a strong Western posture while unreservedly condemning the apparent exploitation of the presidential office for personal and family enrichment, as this Pakistan case seems to demonstrate. *I reject the false dichotomy that says one must be either entirely for or entirely against this administration. One can applaud firmness toward Moscow and Beijing while demanding accountability for hundreds of millions of dollars flowing opaquely toward the presidential family.* ### A test for the credibility of a pro-Western editorial line Acknowledging an administration's domestic ethical problems while supporting its geopolitical posture toward **Russia**, **China**, **Iran**, and **North Korea** requires constant intellectual rigor. That rigor is what separates a credible columnist from a mere propagandist, regardless of which political side he usually defends. That is precisely the rigor I try to apply here: applauding Western military firmness without reservation, while refusing to turn a blind eye to family financial practices that, in any other context, would cause a scandal. ## The Emirati precedent that paved the way ### A deal negotiated even before the inauguration According to the **Wall Street Journal**, the agreement with emissaries for **Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan** was finalized just **four days** before the **January 2025** presidential inauguration, a timing detail that underscores just how much these financial negotiations unfolded in parallel with, if not ahead of, the president's official taking of office. Half the payment, roughly **$187 million**, was transferred immediately to entities tied to the **Trump** family, according to documents cited by the newspaper. At least **$31 million** more reportedly went to entities associated with **Steve Witkoff**, even as he had just been named the American emissary for the **Middle East**, a timing coincidence that has fueled suspicion among several Democratic lawmakers about this administration's ability to separate private interests from official diplomatic duties. *Transferring tens of millions of dollars to entities tied to an American emissary just appointed for the Middle East, days before he officially took up his post, is not a trivial accounting detail. It is exactly the kind of financial chain that journalists have a duty to follow to the end.* ## Conclusion: access as the new geopolitical currency ### A precedent that goes beyond the Pakistan case alone The story of the memorandum between **Pakistan** and **World Liberty Financial** illustrates a profound shift in how influence is negotiated on the international stage. In the words of economist **Khurram Husain** himself, access to the **White House** has become a currency as valuable as the hundreds of millions of dollars actually paid in this transaction. For **Islamabad**, the operation was an undeniable diplomatic success, regardless of the fact that no real **stablecoin** project had materialized six months later. For the **Trump** family, it represented yet another source of hundreds of millions of dollars, added to a personal cryptocurrency fortune already valued in the billions. ### The question that still has no clear answer What this affair still cannot establish with certainty is the existence of a direct, provable legal link between the payments received and specific political or diplomatic decisions made by the **Trump** administration. The Senate investigations demanded by figures like **Richard Blumenthal** could, eventually, provide more definitive answers, but for now, the case remains open, backed by solid facts yet still incomplete regarding its ultimate implications. What remains certain is that the line between a president's personal affairs and the geopolitical interests of the nation he leads has rarely seemed as thin as it does through this Pakistani case, and that reality deserves constant journalistic and institutional vigilance, regardless of who occupies the White House. *I close this narrative without absolute certainty about the exact intent behind every signature, every transfer, and every handshake in Islamabad. But I close it convinced that this case deserves to be followed, documented, and revisited, again and again, until a clear answer is provided by an independent investigation.* ### What American citizens should demand At the very least, American citizens should demand full transparency over every financial agreement struck between the presidential family and foreign governments or entities, regardless of which party holds power. That demand is not partisan: it is a basic requirement of a democracy that claims to be accountable to its citizens rather than to private interests hidden behind complex trust structures. The American **Congress**, whether controlled by **Republicans** or **Democrats**, has the legislative tools needed to demand this transparency. The question that remains is whether the political will actually exists to see this through, or whether this case will, like so many others, fade away under the weight of the next news cycle. **By Maxime Marquette, columnist** ## Columnist's transparency note ### Editorial stance I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies. I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events. ### Method and sources This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here. **Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies. **Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations. When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**. ### Nature of the analysis The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted. My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors. This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text. ## Sources ### Primary sources - Al Jazeera — $500m for Trump, access for Pakistan: How a crypto-diplomatic bet paid off, July 3, 2026 - Office of Government Ethics — presidential financial disclosures - Wall Street Journal — An Emirati emissary secretly bought a stake in Trump's crypto company, January 31, 2026 ### Secondary sources - Bloomberg — How a 35-year-old helped Pakistan win over Trump's world, March 29, 2026 - CNBC — Trump family's Alt5 Sigma deal left investors with steep losses, June 9, 2026 - CNN — Senators demand investigation into secret Trump-UAE crypto deal, June 25, 2026 - Mother Jones — The strange link between Iran negotiations and Trump's crypto empire, April 10, 2026 - Wikipedia — World Liberty Financial, history of sovereign deals --- Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. 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