Merkley, Warren, VAN Hollen, Sanders Probe Trump-backed Board of Peace’s PLAN to Rebuild GAZA WITH Shady Cryptocurrency

MERKLEY, WARREN, VAN HOLLEN, SANDERS PROBE TRUMP-BACKED BOARD OF PEACE’S PLAN TO REBUILD GAZA WITH SHADY CRYPTOCURRENCY
April 17, 2026

Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley partnered with U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to press the Trump Administration over its plans to reportedly develop a US dollar-backed stablecoin for Gaza as part of post-war reconstruction efforts.

The Senators raise serious policy and ethical concerns about this proposal from President Trump’s “Board of Peace” particularly given the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and ongoing conflict across the region.

“This proposal threatens to undermine the Palestinian financial system, raises significant surveillance and ethical concerns, and creates yet another opportunity for President Trump to promote stablecoin use as his own cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, pushes stablecoin adoption. Therefore, we request information regarding the Administration’s plans to promote the use of a stablecoin in Gaza,” the Senators wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

They also expressed concerns about the involvement of Liran Tancman, a former member of Israel’s intelligence corps and “an unpaid advisor to Trump’s Board of Peace,” stating, “Mr. Tancman’s failed record of privatizing traditional humanitarian functions through [the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation]—including findings that more than 1,200 people seeking aid were killed around GHF’s sites— underscores the risks of moving forward with poorly vetted initiatives that affect Gaza’s civilian population.”

The Senators also stressed in their letter that the priority must be stability and ensuring the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian relief to Gaza, not changes to its financial system that create new risks for corruption.

“The proposal also carries significant conflict of interest risks,” they continued. “In addition, the establishment and use of a stablecoin in Gaza raises significant ethical and financial risks: a Board-controlled stablecoin ‘could give external actors unprecedented influence over Gaza’s financial system,’ and ‘introducing a separate payment system’ in Gaza ‘risks further separating Gaza economically from the West Bank.’ Meanwhile, the use of stablecoin increases the ability of external actors to restrict financial transactions among Gaza residents.”

Merkley has long sounded the alarm over Trump’s crypto corruption. He leads the End Crypto Corruption Act to ban cryptocurrency-related corruption by elected officials at the highest levels of the federal government. Previously, Merkley and Warren sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics to raise significant concerns about a billion-dollar deal between a Trump-backed crypto company and a foreign crypto firm, as well as two follow-up inquiries requesting further information on this shady deal and how it appears to enrich President Trump, his family, and members of his administration.

Full text of the letter can be found by clicking here and follows below:

Dear Secretary Rubio:

We write today to express deep concern regarding reports that the Trump Administration’s “Board of Peace” may develop “a US dollar-backed stablecoin for Gaza” as part of post-war reconstruction efforts. This proposal threatens to undermine the Palestinian financial system, raises significant surveillance and ethical concerns, and creates yet another opportunity for President Trump to promote stablecoin use as his own cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, pushes stablecoin adoption. Therefore, we request information regarding the Administration’s plans to promote the use of a stablecoin in Gaza.

President Trump’s “Board of Peace” was initially envisioned to “set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of” war-torn Gaza. President Trump serves as the “Chairman” of the Board. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and current Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, serve on both its “Executive Board” and its “Gaza Board.” You serve on the “Executive Board.” The Board’s charter, signed by President Trump in January 2026, ultimately provides the organization with broad authority—outside the confines of traditional international governing structures—“to expand to address conflicts in which it determines that stability or lawful governance is at risk.” Thus far, the Board appears to have made minimal meaningful progress in rebuilding Gaza; it did, however, recently present a slide deck at the World Economic Forum in Davos pitching a $25 billion plan to build “gleaming skyscrapers rising on Gaza’s coast and the construction of entirely new cities” in the enclave.

In recent weeks, however, the Board has floated the possibility of launching a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, governed in part by the Board, to aid reconstruction efforts and “facilitate digital payments.” Public reporting indicates that Israel