World Liberty's Due Diligence Report Card: Incomplete (See: AB DAO Drama)

World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture co-founded by President Donald Trump and partly owned by his family, recently partnered with AB DAO, a Southeast Asia-based blockchain project. Because nothing says "we definitely read the whitepaper" like discovering red flags only after the headlines start trending.

Before integrating its USD1 stablecoin, $WLFI claims it conducted due diligence. However, an investigation by The Times found the company was unaware that AB DAO had, until weeks earlier, promoted a resort project linked to figures connected to Cambodia's Prince Group. "We DYOR'd" probably meant "did you only read our Twitter bio?" in this case.

The Prince Group was hit with coordinated U.S. and U.K. sanctions in November targeting founder Chen Zhi and associates for alleged large-scale fraud. Individuals tied to the group had been involved in AB DAO's promoted resort project before being removed following the sanctions. Timing is everything in crypto—and in sanctions compliance, apparently.

$WLFI has not responded to CoinDesk's request for comment. The company told The Times it has "no association or relationship with the sanctioned individuals." Standard CEX energy: the silence speaks volumes, and the volumes are "we're definitely not going to comment on this."

This adds to existing questions about World Liberty's governance. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that a company backed by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to acquire a 49% stake in $WLFI for $500 million shortly before Trump returned to office. Legal experts cited potential conflict-of-interest concerns. The White House has denied any impropriety. Meanwhile, $WLFI's due diligence process appears to have the rigor of a Twitter poll and the thoroughness of a Saturday morning project scan.

There is no suggestion $WLFI had any direct connection to the Prince Group. But the report does raise questions about the effectiveness of due diligence at the company. Somewhere, a degen is tweeting "trust me bro" while their compliance team is asking why nobody checks the sanctions list twice.