A few weeks ago, we wrote about a former flooring salesman linked to an obscure Emirati investment group called Aqua1 Foundation. In June, Aqua1 bought $100mn-worth of the World Liberty Financial governance token (WLFI), a cryptocurrency backed by the Trump and Witkoff families.
Whether potential profit or a chance to curry favour with a president who has a penchant for big-round-numbers inspired Aqua1’s WLFI investment remains an open question. The token’s value has fallen about 25 per cent since October 10, when WLF’s “co-founder emeritus” Donald Trump, also US president, threatened to slap huge extra tariffs on China.
The announcement triggered a wave of crypto liquidations and a nasty sell-off for the broader digital assets market. It also got us wondering if Aqua1 had racked up losses elsewhere.