World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin, co-founded by Donald Trump Jr. and his younger brother Eric Trump, has attained a notable milestone, reaching a market capitalization of $5 billion as reported this week. Anchored by its parity with the U.S. dollar, USD1 is designed to deliver stable value in the rapidly evolving decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The Trump siblings took to social media platforms to express their enthusiasm about the stablecoin’s fast-growing adoption and institutional backing, emphasizing its American origins and infrastructural focus.
Donald Trump Jr. shared a screenshot from CoinMarketCap on X, underscoring USD1’s market cap milestone and the cryptocurrency’s positioning as a “built in America” token that is engineered for scalable real-world applications. He highlighted the stablecoin’s endorsement by serious institutional players, framing its success as a result of prioritizing robust infrastructure over market noise.
Eric Trump echoed these sentiments, marking the achievement as a significant accomplishment in the Trump family’s expanding involvement within the digital asset ecosystem.
Launched less than a year ago, USD1 quickly attained the status of the fifth-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, eclipsing competitors such as PayPal USD (PYUSD) and Ripple USD (RLUSD). Its dollar-pegged design aims to provide users with reliable exposure to digital assets without the volatility typically associated with cryptocurrencies.
World Liberty Financial has integrated USD1 as the foundational token for its DeFi platform, which facilitates lending and borrowing activities anchored by the stablecoin. The platform is currently pursuing a U.S. national banking license that would enable it to issue and custody the USD-pegged cryptocurrency under regulatory oversight, suggesting an ambition to navigate existing financial frameworks while capitalizing on DeFi opportunities.
Despite the promising growth and institutional interest, USD1 has encountered its share of controversy. Notably, the stablecoin was a medium for a $2 billion transaction with MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, closing a deal involving Binance last year. This transaction drew scrutiny and allegations from Senator Elizabeth Warren alleging a possible quid pro quo arrangement connecting the Trump family with Binance’s former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who was later pardoned by former President Donald Trump.
Binance’s CEO dismissed these accusations, clarifying that the deal was a transaction payment and not an investment in World Liberty Financial, seeking to separate Binance’s corporate activities from the political controversy surrounding the Trump family’s business ventures.
From a market perspective, the broader token associated with World Liberty Financial, WLFI, was trading at approximately $0.1617, experiencing a marginal decline of 0.38% over the preceding 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro data. These price fluctuations reflect typical market dynamics faced by tokens in emerging sectors like DeFi.
While USD1’s growth and market penetration are noteworthy, the intersection of politics, regulatory scrutiny, and digital asset innovation presents a complex environment for the Trump family’s DeFi ambitions. Monitoring the progression of World Liberty Financial’s national banking license application and regulatory responses remains critical for stakeholders assessing the stablecoin’s long-term viability.