Circle shareholder sues Trump over $2.5 billion of UAE money behind stablecoin rival USD1
A Circle shareholder is suing the president over $2.5 billion of UAE-linked money behind rival stablecoin USD1. The constitutional case is a long shot, but the economics it exposes, Circle keeping 7 cents per revenue dollar against a sovereign-funded competitor, are not.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
A shareholder with 10,000 Circle shares sued the President of the United States on Thursday, and the company he sued on behalf of wanted no part of it 12. J. Benjamin Greenberg filed a derivative complaint in Washington federal court, suing on Circle's own behalf, the way a shareholder may pursue a claim the company's management will not; any award flows to Circle, not to him 2.
The defendants are Donald Trump, the family venture World Liberty Financial, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and affiliated LLCs 12. Circle's response was immediate: it "did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing" 1. The market's verdict landed the same day: CRCL fell 3.44% to about $86, a roughly $22 billion market cap 2.
Two deals, one constitutional claim
The Foreign Emoluments Clause bars a president from taking payments from foreign governments without Congress's consent. Greenberg says it was breached twice. An investment vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security adviser, agreed days before the January 2025 inauguration to buy 49% of World Liberty for $500 million 23.
Separately, Abu Dhabi's MGX fund, which Tahnoon chairs, spent $2 billion of World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin on a stake in Binance 12. Trump's 2025 disclosure counts more than $1.4 billion in crypto income, nearly $800 million of it from World Liberty 2. The suit seeks disclosure of the payments, disgorgement and a bar on future such deals 13.
Why it lands on Circle's margin
USDC holds 24% of stablecoin supply against a $4 billion sovereign-backed rival
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Tether USDT | $183B |
| Circle USDC | $73B |
| World Liberty USD1 | $4B |
USD1 is small, about $4 billion against USDC's $73.3 billion float 26. The threat is the seller behind it: sovereign capital plus a 49% owner whose planned trust bank won preliminary OCC conditional approval in August 2026 2. Meanwhile Circle's H1 2026 economics show how expensive holding share already is: of about $1.4 billion in revenue, roughly $819 million (59%) went to USDC distribution partners and transaction costs, leaving about 7% as profit 4. Every dollar USD1 buys with state money costs Circle that thin margin to defend 4.
The other side, and the door
The White House called the suit baseless; World Liberty says no one there works for the government; prior emoluments suits recovered nothing 13. Legal weight aside, the suit is a marker, filed thirteen days before Circle's Q3 print on November 4, a quarter when the reserve return rate fell 66 basis points while USDC grew 25% 6.
The moat also has a European leg: from November 12, the EBA's dual supervision of USDC as the EU's first "significant" e-money token puts regulators' eyes on reserves that USD1's backers cannot yet match 7. If the suit survives, USD1's sovereign funding is contested in court; if it dies on standing, Circle still pays 59 cents of each revenue dollar for share 4. Watch the docket, the supply figures and November 4 46.
What happens next
BinanceDoes the distribution-cost squeeze on Circle's margin worsen as USDC grows?
The case for
The Foreign Emoluments claim against Trump and World Liberty could force disclosure, disgorgement or a bar on further sovereign deals
The case against
Even a dismissed emoluments suit keeps the USD1 overhang alive as long as the docket runs
- Wed Nov 4Circle's third-quarter results.
- Thu Nov 12EBA dual supervision of USDC as the EU's first significant e-money token begins. Does the European oversight widen Circle's regulatory moat over USD1?
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