The cryptocurrency project of US President Donald Trump and his family, World Liberty Financial ($WLFI), continues to be at the center of scandal. This time, $WLFI is under scrutiny due to the person behind one of its largest investors, the Aqua 1 Foundation.
Aqua 1, which drew attention for its $100 million investment in $WLFI, is allegedly controlled by Chinese businessman Zhou Guren, whose debts in China and ties to a UK money laundering investigation have raised new questions.
The Name Behind Aqua 1 Long Remained a Secret!
As you may recall, in June 2025, Aqua 1 became the project's largest public investor by purchasing governance tokens issued by $WLFI for $100 million. This investment surpassed that of Tron founder Justin Sun, who reportedly invested a total of $75 million.
When Aqua 1 announced its investment in $WLFI, the true investor behind the company was not publicly known.
According to the Chinese financial institution Caixin, recent investigations have revealed the identity of the person actually controlling Aqua 1: it is Chinese businessman Zhou Guren.
Although Zhou Guren does not appear in the list of executives of the Aqua 1 Foundation, he is ultimately the recipient of the funds.
However, Zhou's background has raised questions about the source of funding for the $100 million investment.
He Has Multi-Million Dollar Debts in China!
According to Caixin news agency, Zhou Guren is listed in China's registries of insolvent debtors. His name appears on the publicly accessible "list of debtors" maintained by Chinese courts.
The report also states that Zhou's total debt across six separate cases in which he is implicated amounts to tens of millions of yuan.
This situation raises questions about the financial relationship between the level of his debt in China and Zhou's recent $100 million investment in $WLFI through Aqua 1.
However, the mere existence of these Chinese court documents on Zhou does not prove that the $100 million used for the investment is connected to these debts.
Under Investigation for Money Laundering in the UK Too!
The news report also mentions another notable aspect of Zhou Guren's past: a money laundering investigation in the United Kingdom.
According to Caixin, a document provided by the UK Crown Prosecution Service links Zhou Guren to a UK money laundering investigation.
However, the fact that Guren has not yet been convicted in this case raises additional questions.
*This is not investment advice.
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