Warren, Reed: Loopholes in Trump-Endorsed Crypto Pose Risks for Illegal Financial Activities

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed have called for a federal probe into

(WLF), a cryptocurrency company with strong connections to the Trump family, pointing to suspected links with criminal organizations in North Korea and Russia. In a letter addressed to Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the senators regarding WLF's sale of tokens to "entities raising significant suspicion," including groups associated with North Korean hackers under sanctions and Russian tools for evading sanctions.

According to a letter obtained by CNBC, the senators referenced a September report by the nonprofit Accountable.US, which

to organizations tied to the Lazarus Group, a hacking group backed by North Korea, as well as Tornado Cash, a platform known for laundering money. The lawmakers stated that WLF's insufficient anti-money laundering and sanctions controls could "significantly boost illegal financial activities" and allow foreign adversaries to sway the company's governance.

WLF, which names Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Barron Trump as co-founders, has issued $WLFI tokens to fund ventures such as a debit card and tokenized commodities. However, the senators pointed out that DT Marks DEFI LLC, a Trump family-linked entity, owns 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens—worth over $3 billion—and receives 75% of the revenue from token sales. They argue this situation presents a conflict of interest for Trump administration officials, who could put financial gain ahead of regulatory compliance

.

This request for an investigation comes as lawmakers consider new cryptocurrency rules that might exclude governance tokens like $WLFI from current regulatory frameworks. Warren and Reed

of making sure "crypto stakeholders do not benefit at the cost of U.S. national security." WLF has yet to issue a public response.

Meanwhile, North Korea has intensified its criticism of U.S. and South Korean military collaboration,

could set off a "nuclear domino effect" in the area. Although not directly related to the WLF investigation, these remarks highlight wider geopolitical strains that may make enforcing sanctions and crypto regulations more challenging.

World Liberty Financial has come under scrutiny from various directions, including its stablecoin

, which was used by a UAE-supported fund to invest $2 billion in Binance. The company's association with prominent individuals and its governance approach have sparked debate about openness and responsibility in a sector already facing regulatory ambiguity.