Trump Family-Backed WLFI Reportedly Set for National Trust Bank Charter to Issue USD1 Independently

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is a cryptocurrency venture involving the Trump family, and its USD1 stablecoin is pegged one-to-one to the U.S. dollar. Its involvement in UFC Freedom 250 takes USD1 beyond trading markets and into athlete bonuses, while bringing renewed scrutiny to the boundary between private commercial interests and events held at the White House.

UFC Freedom 250 was held on the White House South Lawn on June 14, 2026, coinciding with Trump’s 80th birthday. WLFI served as presenting sponsor and provided a $250,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus pool paid in USD1. Crypto.com separately established a $1 million CRO bonus pool, while Polymarket and other crypto companies also gained exposure at the event.

USD1 was launched in March 2025 by World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance protocol backed by the Trump family, with digital-asset custodian BitGo safeguarding its dollar reserves. The stablecoin links the Trump political brand with stablecoin payments and traditional finance. It has also become a closely watched case at the intersection of politics and business because the family's interests overlap with its influence on U.S. policy.

In May 2025, Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX used $2 billion in USD1 to complete its investment in Binance, providing a key boost to the stablecoin's circulating supply. By July 2026, USD1's market capitalization had reached $4.6 billion, representing nearly tenfold growth in about a year. World Liberty Financial is also expanding access to regulated custody and mainstream financial channels through its partnerships with BitGo and Binance and its application for a banking license.

USD1 is a U.S. dollar stablecoin issued by Trump family-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFI), while HTX is led by Justin Sun. The dispute arose after WLFI froze related on-chain addresses following British government sanctions on HTX’s parent company. The episode highlights the governance risk that centralized stablecoin issuers can unilaterally restrict transfers and redemptions.

HTX announced it would delist USD1, accusing WLFI of freezing multiple on-chain addresses and user assets without prior notice. The exchange said it would convert USD1 holdings on its platform into USDT at a 1:1 ratio. Sanctions have escalated the conflict, but available information does not disclose the amount frozen, the effective delisting date or when the conversions will be completed.

The Trump family launched World Liberty Financial (WLFI) in September 2024, issuing a governance token and developing businesses including stablecoins. Trump-affiliated companies are entitled to about 75% of net token-sale revenue. The arrangement overlaps with presidential powers, crypto regulation and national Bitcoin reserve policy, breaking with the practice of previous presidents using blind trusts to mitigate conflicts of interest.

TRON founder Justin Sun invested $30 million on November 25, 2024, and another $45 million in January 2025, bringing his total investment to $75 million. WLFI’s token sales had reached $550 million as of March 2025. The Trump administration established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve on March 6 that year, while chip-export and foreign-policy decisions also affected the interests of financial backers, prompting lawmakers and ethics experts to demand more comprehensive disclosures.

World Liberty Financial is a Trump family-backed DeFi project that uses WLFI as its governance token and USD1 as its dollar stablecoin. As of February 26, 2026, USD1 had a market capitalization of about $4.7 billion, ranking fifth. The proposal links voting power and staking rewards to stablecoin usage, with implications for the concentration of governance and USD1’s expansion.

WLFI introduced the proposal on February 25, 2026, requiring unlocked tokens to be staked for at least 180 days. Participants who vote at least twice during that period could earn a target annualized reward of 2%, while USD1 deposited in WLFI Markets would qualify for Dolomite incentives. The proposal passed on March 13 with 99.12% support and about 1,800 participants, although 10 wallets controlled 76% of the voting power. The highest tier required staking 50 million WLFI tokens, worth about $5 million at the time.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a DeFi project backed by the Trump family, previously partnered with AB DAO/AB Network, which has been accused of links to a network associated with Cambodia's Prince Group. After the United States and Britain sanctioned Prince Group members, attention turned to WLFI's partner screening, controls over sources of funds and corporate governance.

The United States and Britain jointly sanctioned individuals and entities linked to Prince Group on October 14, 2025. U.S. authorities also seized approximately 127,271 bitcoin, worth about $15 billion at the time. WLFI said it had completed due diligence before the partnership but did not disclose the value of the arrangement, review documents or the date it ended the relationship. WLFI itself is not currently under sanctions.

World Liberty Financial, or WLFI, is a DeFi project backed by the Trump family whose USD1 stablecoin aims to maintain a peg of $1 per token. The close association between a political family’s brand and crypto finance has drawn scrutiny of account security, reserve transparency and market confidence.

The project recently faced a coordinated attack in which hackers compromised a founder’s account to spread panic while taking short positions, briefly pushing USD1 down to $0.9942. The project said funds were safe and its stabilization mechanism was functioning normally. As of July 20, 2026, USD1 had regained its peg, though the WLFI governance token remained under downward pressure.

USD1 is a U.S. dollar stablecoin issued by Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) in partnership with custodian BitGo. It is backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents, with Crowe reviewing its reserves monthly. The token has a market capitalization of about $5 billion, making the depeg a test of market confidence in its reserves and redemption mechanism.

On February 23, 2026, WLFI said the X accounts of several co-founders had been compromised. The attackers also paid to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt, or FUD, while heavily shorting the WLFI token. USD1 briefly fell to $0.9802 on Binance before returning close to $1 within about 30 minutes. The team issued two clarifications that its contracts, wallets and reserves had not been hacked and that 1:1 minting and redemption continued to operate normally.

World Liberty Financial is a crypto-finance company backed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his sons. Its USD1 stablecoin is fully backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar assets and uses minting and redemption mechanisms to maintain its $1 price. Stablecoins are an important dollar substitute for crypto trading and fund transfers, and even a brief depeg can test reserve transparency and market confidence.

World Liberty Financial said on X on February 23, 2026, that hackers targeted the accounts of several WLFI co-founders, short sellers built large positions and paid influencers spread panic. The company said WLFI fell about 7% at one point and was trading at $0.1128 when the report was published. USD1 dropped to about $0.994 before recovering to above $0.999.