UK money laundering suspect bought $100M in Trump crypto business: NYT
Summary
Guren Zhou, also known as Bobby, was reportedly behind Aqua 1’s $100 million purchase of World Liberty Financial tokens in June 2025. The deal benefited Donald Trump’s family and World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff. Zhou had previously been under UK investigation for suspected money laundering after the collapse of a crypto business he launched, making his ability to fund the investment unclear. Aqua 1, a UAE-based “Web3-native fund,” had drawn scrutiny over possible conflicts of interest because of foreign money tied to Trump’s crypto business. White House officials denied any conflict. Earlier speculation had pointed to Dave Lee, who later joined Aqua 1 as co-founder and CEO.
