What Is World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) and How Does It Work?
World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) is a U.S. dollar–pegged
stablecoin launched in March 2025 by
World Liberty Financial, a firm backed by the Trump family. Each USD1 token is 100% collateralized by short-term U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents, with all reserves held and audited by BitGo, a leading institutional custodian.
You mint USD1 on-chain by sending USD to World Liberty Financial’s bank account via BitGo’s interface; once the deposit clears, an equivalent number of USD1 tokens are issued to your BitGo wallet on supported blockchains (initially
Ethereum and
BNB Chain). Redemption works in reverse: you return USD1 tokens through BitGo, and fiat USD is transferred back to your bank account. This mint-and-redeem mechanism ensures that USD1 maintains a stable 1:1 peg to the U.S. dollar at all times.
When Did World Liberty Financial's USD1 Stablecoin Go Live?
World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) went live in
March 2025, with its public launch announced on
March 26, 2025, at the TOKEN2049 conference in Dubai by co-founder Zach Witkoff. The stablecoin’s roadmap was unveiled earlier that month, outlining initial issuance on
Ethereum and
BNB Chain, with plans to expand cross-chain minting and integrate into major
DeFi protocols.
World Liberty Financial itself was founded in September 2024 as a DeFi platform backed by Donald Trump (serving as “chief crypto advocate”) and led day-to-day by Eric Trump Jr. and Donald Trump Jr. alongside co-founders Zach Witkoff, Chase Herro, and Zachary Folkman. After launching its governance token ($WLFI) in October 2024, the firm shifted focus to USD1, positioning it as an “institutional-ready” stablecoin fully collateralized by U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents, overseen and audited by BitGo.
What Assets Back WLFI's USD1 Stablecoin?
USD1 is backed on a 1:1 basis by a conservative reserve portfolio consisting exclusively of:
1. Short-term U.S. Treasury securities (Treasury bills and notes with maturities under one year)
2. U.S. dollar deposits held in regulated bank accounts
3. Cash equivalents such as overnight repurchase agreements and other liquid instruments
This asset mix ensures that every USD1 token in circulation is fully collateralized by low-risk, highly liquid holdings.
How Often Is the USD1 Reserve Audited?
World Liberty Financial engages an independent, third-party accounting firm to conduct regular attestations of the USD1 reserve. These audits occur on a monthly basis, with the firm’s findings published publicly to ensure ongoing transparency and to reinforce the stablecoin’s 1:1 peg.
What Are the Primary Use Cases of USD1 Token?
USD1 serves as a medium of exchange and a store of value across decentralized finance protocols, powering lending and borrowing,
liquidity pools, and
NFT marketplaces on Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain. It also enables fast, low-cost cross-border payments and remittances, slashing conversion fees and settlement times compared with traditional rails. Additionally, USD1 underpins institutional-scale settlements, most notably facilitating a $2 billion investment into Binance by Abu Dhabi’s MGX at TOKEN2049.
How Can WLFI Holders Participate in the USD1 Airdrop?
To participate in the USD1
airdrop, you need to hold $WLFI tokens in your wallet before the governance vote snapshot closes on
May 14, 2025 and cast your vote “Yes” on the airdrop proposal in World Liberty Financial’s governance portal. Once the vote concludes, a snapshot of all $WLFI balances will be taken, and a fixed amount of USD1 will be automatically distributed to each eligible wallet; no manual claim is required.
How to Mint or Redeem USD1 Stablecoin
Here's how you can mint or redeem the World Liberty Financial USD1 stablecoin via BitGo:
How to Mint USD1
You can convert your U.S. dollars into USD1 tokens seamlessly through BitGo’s custodial interface.
1. Open your BitGo institutional wallet and select “Mint USD1”.
2. Initiate a USD wire transfer to World Liberty Financial’s designated bank account within the BitGo interface.
3. Once BitGo confirms receipt of your USD (typically within 1–2 business days), USD1 tokens are automatically minted on your chosen blockchain (e.g., Ethereum or BNB Smart Chain) and credited to your BitGo wallet.
How to Redeem USD1
You can burn your USD1 tokens in exchange for fiat USD, with funds returned to your linked bank account.
1. In your BitGo wallet, choose “Redeem USD1” and specify the amount of USD1 to burn.
2. BitGo destroys (burns) the on-chain USD1 tokens and initiates a USD wire transfer back to your linked bank account.
3. You’ll receive the equivalent USD fiat, net of any nominal custodian fees, usually within 1–2 business days.
How Does USD1 Compare to Other Stablecoins Like USDT and USDC?
World Liberty Financial’s USD1 distinguishes itself through a strict, Treasury-only reserve model and regular attestations. Unlike
USDC, which holds its backing primarily in cash and cash-equivalent assets via the Circle Reserve Fund (an SEC-registered 2a-7 government money market fund) with
daily third-party reporting and
monthly attestations by Grant Thornton, USD1 maintains its 1:1 peg exclusively through short-term U.S. Treasuries, dollar deposits, and cash equivalents, audited
monthly by an independent firm via BitGo’s transparency reports. This narrow, low-risk asset mix aims to minimize duration and credit risk, positioning USD1 as an “institutional-grade” stablecoin.
Tether’s USDT, by contrast, utilizes a more diversified, and at times opaque, reserve composition, which includes U.S. Treasury bills alongside commercial paper, corporate debt, secured loans, precious metals, and other holdings such as Bitcoin and gold. While Tether publishes
quarterly attestations (most recently by BDO Italia) and daily transparency snapshots, its mixed-asset approach and past controversies over disclosure have drawn regulatory and market scrutiny. As a result, USD1’s exclusive Treasury-backing model and consistent attestation schedule offer a differentiated value proposition for users seeking maximal transparency and minimized counterparty risk.
Which Blockchains Does World Liberty Financial USD1 Operate On?
World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin is initially deployed as an
ERC-20 token on
Ethereum and a BEP-20 token on
Binance Smart Chain, providing seamless integration with major DeFi platforms and
wallets; the team has also announced upcoming native minting and redemption support on
TRON, with further cross-chain expansions planned to broaden its accessibility across additional blockchains.
What Fees and Transaction Fees to Expect When Using WLFI's USD1 Stablecoin
Minting or redeeming USD1 incurs a small BitGo service fee (detailed in BitGo’s fee schedule) plus the underlying blockchain gas fees for ERC-20 (Ethereum) or BEP-20 (BNB Smart Chain) transfers, which can range from a few cents to a few dollars depending on network congestion. On-chain transactions (sending or receiving USD1) therefore cost the prevailing gas rate of the network you use. If you trade USD1 on an exchange like BingX, standard spot trading fees (e.g., starting at 0.1% maker/taker) will also apply according to the platform’s tiered fee schedule.
Is USD1 Stablecoin Safe and Compliant?
USD1’s safety and compliance stem from its fully collateralized reserves, 100% backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries, dollar deposits, and cash equivalents, and held in custody by BitGo Trust Company, a regulated, SOC-certified institution with tri-party collateral oversight and immutable audit logs. Monthly third-party attestations verify the peg, while BitGo’s global trust-company licenses and adherence to U.S. regulatory frameworks (including KYC/AML and UCC Article 12) ensure institutional-grade transparency and risk mitigation, making USD1 a compliant, secure on-chain dollar alternative.