Aqua 1, a little-known firm, invests $100 million in Trump’s World Liberty

A venture going by the name Aqua 1 Foundation and saying it is based in the United Arab Emirates, announced in late June it had bought $100 million worth of World Liberty’s crypto tokens. This pushed it to become the largest publicly known investor in Trump’s crypto business. However, much remains unknown about the organization.

Aqua 1’s digital profile and other public information reveal almost nothing about the source of its capital or the person it named as its founding partner, Dave Lee. This has added to people’s questions about Trump’s controversial crypto ecosystem.

Why? The Trump family receives three-quarters of all token proceeds from World Liberty. To that end, Aqua 1’s purchase injects tens of millions of dollars into their personal pockets.

Richard Painter, a former chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said the lack of transparency on investors in the Trump family’s crypto business, such as Aqua 1, has undermined public confidence in the government. 

Without more information, Painter said that everybody assumes the worst regarding foreign actors trying to influence the White House. He also made a dangerous statement that “We ought to know who is sending money to the president.”

However, the president has an opaque explanation. “President Trump is dedicated to making America the crypto capital of the world and revolutionizing our digital financial technology,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in an emailed statement. “His assets are in a trust managed by his children, and there are no conflicts of interest.”

World Liberty deal marks Aqua 1’s only current investment. 

On its website, Aqua 1 is a Web3-native fund based in the UAE with a global outlook. Such funds invest in blockchain and crypto firms, making products for a futuristic idea of a decentralized internet.

According to Reuters, last month, the company provided an unsigned statement, saying, “At this stage, we are not disclosing additional information beyond what has been publicly shared.”

It added, “Aqua 1 is backed by a group of long-term, mission-aligned partners and led by Dave Lee and a global team with deep expertise in web3 and digital asset infrastructure.”

Aqua 1’s assets are under management, totaling $100 million. In addition, the World Liberty deal is its only current investment. According to data from crypto tracker Arkham, the only large outgoing trades from a wallet tagged “aqua1.eth” were two transfers totaling $80 million to World Liberty in early June. 

It had also made transfers of $9 million in March and $3 million in April to anonymous crypto wallets. Between March and June, it received about $90 million from an account at the OKX crypto exchange.

Dave Lee, the only known person linked to the company X account, was registered in 2023. It has made only a handful of posts, starting with an announcement of the World Liberty deal. The account calls Lee an “investor and dreamer.” 

His profile picture features a manga-style portrait of a young man in a bow tie, along with Brazilian, Chinese, and US flags. It cites Sao Paulo, New York, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi as his locations.

Aqua 1 is not registered

According to two web domain trackers, Aqua 1’s website was created in May, a month before it announced its investment. The website contains no information on Aqua 1’s leadership or financial backers.

Registration takes approximately six to 12 months for crypto funds. Funds gravitate towards Abu Dhabi because of its well-developed crypto framework and focus on institutional finance. However, the Abu Dhabi financial centre said by email that Aqua 1 is not registered, licensed, or affiliated with it in any capacity.

Also, Aqua 1 or Aqua 1 Foundation does not appear in the register of UAE Securities and Commodities Authority-licensed companies. 

Similarly, a spokeswoman for the Dubai International Finance Centre regulator revealed that it does not identify any entity by the name of Aqua 1 or Aqua 1 Foundation, or anyone by the name of Dave Lee. That was the case at the register of Dubai’s crypto regulator, VARA.

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