UK money laundering suspect bought $100M in Trump crypto business: NYT
Written by Turner Wrightstaff writerReviewed by Robert Lakinstaff editorAn individual behind the Aqua 1 entity that purchased $100 million worth of World Liberty Financial tokens in 2025 is reportedly a businessman with ties to the UK and UAE.
An individual previously under investigation in the UK for money laundering following the collapse of a cryptocurrency business was reportedly behind buying $100 million worth of tokens from the Trump family company, World Liberty Financial.
According to a Sunday New York Times report, Guren Zhou, also known as Bobby, was behind the Aqua 1 entity that purchased $100 million of WLFI tokens from the Trump family crypto business in June 2025. The token purchase financially benefitted members of US President Donald Trump’s family and that of World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff.
Zhou’s reported involvement in the World Liberty purchase followed speculation that the individual behind Aqua 1 was Dave Lee. The Aqua 1 foundation acknowledged in July 2025 that Lee joined the company as co-founder and CEO in April 2025, but did not say whether he was behind the funds going into the WLFI tokens.
The source of the investment from Aqua 1, which described itself as a “Web3-native fund” based in the United Arab Emirates, raised questions about potential conflicts of interest in the Trump administration, with foreign actors tied to his family’s crypto company. White House spokesperson Anna Kelley has repeatedly said that there were “no conflicts of interest“ with the president’s investments.
According to the New York Times report, how Zhou was able to invest millions of dollars into World Liberty was a “mystery,” given his 2021 arrest in the UK for suspected money laundering and the collapse of a multimillion-dollar crypto business he launched. Some of World Liberty’s biggest backers include Tron founder Justin Sun, who initially invested $45 million in the company’s tokens, and An Abu Dhabi entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with a reported $500 million stake.
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