- Elizabeth Warren has attacked Donald Trump over a Wall Street Journal report.
- The report linked World Liberty Financial with a crypto project with ties to people sanctioned by the US.
- The Trump family-linked crypto company has denied any wrongdoing.
- Democrats increasingly use crypto as a cudgel to beat Republicans with.
Elizabeth Warren has lashed out against World Liberty Financial over news that the Trump family-run crypto company partnered with a blockchain venture called AB, which has links to a sanctioned criminal syndicate.
The Democrat senator’s comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported that two men linked to AB were sanctioned by the Trump administration for their alleged ties to the Prince Group. The Prince Group is accused of running crypto scam compounds and human trafficking operations out of Cambodia.
The AB network has not been accused of criminality and has removed the men from the project. There is no suggestion that illicit funds flowed into the resort project the two men were involved with, per Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and Guardian Australia's reporting from earlier in April. The two men have not been charged with any crime.
“As the Trump family puts themselves first, Congress needs to ensure that digital asset legislation protects our national security,” Warren said in a Thursday X post.
The Massachusetts senator’s comments highlight how US President Donald Trump’s political rivals are increasingly using crypto to attack him and his political allies ahead of the crucial midterm elections in November.
It comes as the crypto industry has spent over $319 million to influence the 2026 elections, according to Follow The Crypto.
For World Liberty Financial, The Wall Street Journal report marks another setback. Over the past few weeks, it has found itself embroiled in a legal battle with Justin Sun, a crypto mogul and one of the firm’s biggest supporters.
World Liberty Financial was launched in 2024 and co-founded by various members of Trump’s family, namely his three sons, as well as the sons of billionaire real estate developer Steve Witkoff, who serves as the White House’s special envoy to the Middle East.
The White House and World Liberty Financial have said that Trump and Witkoff have no role in the company’s decision-making.
What is AB?
In November, AB announced a collaboration with the Trump family’s project that would see World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin USD1 deployed on the AB Chain.
However, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the controlling shareholder and general manager of one of its projects — a planned blockchain-themed resort in Timor-Leste — had been led by two men sanctioned by the US over their alleged links to the Prince Group.
In November, Prince Group said in a statement that the firm categorically rejects the notion that it engaged in any unlawful activity.
Prince Group told The Wall Street Journal that neither its founder nor the group has any connection with AB or Timor-Leste or any activity in the country.
A lawyer for World Liberty Financial told The Wall Street Journal that it has never had any association or relationship with the sanctioned individuals and that it had no knowledge of the planned resort when it announced its arrangement with AB.
The arrangement wasn’t a partnership but a “limited non-exclusive technology integration” and that the due diligence World Liberty Financial conducted was proportional with the nature of the arrangement, the lawyer told The Wall Street Journal. The Trump family’s crypto project didn’t identify any sanctioned individuals, he said.
"Claims attempting to link World Liberty Financial with sanctioned individuals are unfounded and untrue," World Liberty Financial lawyers told OCCRP and Guardian Australia earlier in April. "[World Liberty Financial] has no relationship or association with any of these sanctioned individuals or the Timor-Leste project.”
An AB spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that the arrangement with World Liberty Financial wasn’t related to the sanctioned men as the planned resort was an independent entity. He said that AB terminated a preliminary agreement with the project after the US sanctions were announced.
The AB spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that it informed World Liberty Financial about the men when the company approached AB about the matter.
The general manager of the planned resort told The Wall Street Journal that he had never had any business dealings with the Prince Group.
Lawyers of the controlling shareholder of the project, have previously said that he wasn’t affiliated with the Prince Group, The Wall Street Journal reported.
World Liberty Financial, AB and Prince Group didn’t immediately respond to DL News’ requests for comment. DL News could not immediately reach the two sanctioned men for comment.
Eric Johansson is DL News’ managing editor. Got a tip? Email at eric@dlnews.com.
