Author: Weilin, PANews
“It’s easier to get things done if you have connections in the government,” and this saying is particularly applicable to the Trump family’s encryption project.
Recently, World Liberty Financial Inc. (WLFI) announced plans to launch a stablecoin, USD 1, which can be exchanged for US dollars at a 1:1 ratio. According to market observations, the mainnet soft launch of USD 1 actually took place around April 12, when the first USD 1 liquidity pools were deployed on Uniswap V3 and PancakeSwap V3. According to incomplete statistics, USD 1 has rapidly expanded and integrated more than 10 protocols or applications.
Since World Liberty Financial is the family DeFi project of US President Trump, the launch of the stablecoin USD 1 has attracted widespread market attention, especially its subsequent deployment on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Tron. In addition to Ethereum, which relies on strength cooperation, BNB Chain and Tron may be more driven by commercial interests. For example, Binance also obtained USD 2 billion in financing for MGX through USD 1, which increased the market value of the stablecoin by USD 2 billion. Sun Yuchen is the largest individual investor in WLFI, with an investment of USD 75 million.
Expanding from Ethereum and BNB Chain to Tron, integrating with multiple DeFi protocols
According to the official introduction, WLFIs USD 1 is 100% guaranteed by U.S. short-term Treasury bonds, U.S. dollar deposits and other cash equivalents, ensuring that each token is anchored to a value of $1. The reserve asset portfolio is regularly audited by a third-party accounting firm and is managed by BitGo, an independent qualified custodian. In addition, BitGos prime brokerage service BitGo Prime will also support USD 1, enabling institutional clients to obtain sufficient liquidity and trading opportunities.
Initially, the USD 1 token was minted on the Ethereum (ETH) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchains. On May 14, BNB Chain officially supported USD 1, noting that Four.Meme, GMGN, SafePal, etc. already support USD 1.
On May 1, WLFI co-founder Zack Witkoff announced that USD 1 will also be natively issued on the Tron chain, further expanding its cross-chain capabilities. Tron founder Justin Sun is also an advisor to WLFI and has invested a total of $75 million in the project.
As of May 15, according to CMC data, the total circulation of USD 1 has reached 2.13 billion, with a market value of approximately US$2.13 billion, ranking fifth. The top four are USDT, USDC, DAI, and USDe.
The official announcement of USD 1 quickly triggered liquidity deployment in the market. On April 12, the on-chain monitoring platform Lookonchain disclosed that market maker DWF Labs has deployed 6 DeFi liquidity pools for USD 1, with a total value of US$18 million. These pools include the following pairings:
Ethereum: 1.5 million USDT and 1.5 million USD 1, 2.5 million USDC and 2.5 million USD 1, 490,000 USDf and 500,000 USD 1, 318.5 ETH and 500,000 USD 1. BSC chain: 3 million USDT and 3 million USD 1, 1,730 BNB and 1 million USD 1.
On April 9, DWF Labs also subscribed for 250 million WLFI at a price of $0.1, with a total amount of $25 million.
The launch of USD 1 is not limited to the deployment of liquidity pools, but also actively expands the DeFi ecosystem. Multiple protocols and DAOs have announced the integration of USD 1:
Venus Protocol: On May 15, Venus, a decentralized lending platform based on the BNB chain, announced that USD 1 was officially launched.
Meson Finance: On May 15, cross-chain DEX Meson Finance announced support for USD 1.
StakeStone: On May 9, the full-chain liquidity infrastructure StakeStone announced that the integration of WLFI was officially launched.
Aster: On May 9, the decentralized perpetual contract exchange Aster included USD 1 as a collateral option. The project is deployed on Ethereum and BNB Chain.
Lista DAO: On May 7, USD 1 landed in the Lista DAO ecosystem and the USD 1/ListaDAO pool was launched, bringing the release of stable income and DeFi utility. Lista DAO is a Liquidity Staking Derivatives (LSD) project operating within the BNB Chain ecosystem.
Pyth Network: On May 3, USD 1 was integrated into the oracle solution Pyth Network.
Falcon Finance: On April 11, Falcon Finance launched USD 1 as collateral, further expanding its application scenarios. The project is a synthetic dollar protocol supported by DWF Labs.
Login to HTX and MEXC to complete MGX investment on Binance
The application of USD 1 is not limited to the decentralized ecosystem, but has also quickly entered centralized exchanges. On May 7, the USD 1/USDT trading pair was launched on the HTX exchange, supporting deposits and transactions. This is the first time that USD 1 has been listed on a major centralized exchange. On the same day, the USD 1/USDT trading pair was launched on the MEXC exchange, with zero withdrawal and transaction fees.
It is also worth mentioning that on May 1, Eric Trump, son of US President Trump and head of WLFI, said that the US dollar-denominated stablecoin USD 1 issued by WLFI has been officially selected as the official stablecoin for Abu Dhabi investment institution MGX to complete its $2 billion investment in Binance. Eric Trump said at the Token 2049 event in Dubai: We thank MGX and Binance for their trust in us, and I think this is just the beginning. Earlier this year, MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based investment company, spent $2 billion to acquire a stake in Binance.
On May 16, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng also publicly stated for the first time that MGXs $2 billion investment in Binance was completed with USD 1 stablecoin, but had nothing to do with the TRUMP token (Meme coin).
In terms of consumption scenarios, USD 1 has also been connected to many encrypted payment and commercial projects:
TokenPocket: On May 15, the decentralized multi-chain wallet TokenPocket announced support for USD 1.
HOT Wallet (HOT Protocol): On May 9, TG Ecosystem’s HOT Wallet announced support for USD 1.
Umy: On May 9, Web3 travel and consumption platform Umy announced that users can use USD 1 to book over one million hotels and luxury travel services around the world on the platform.
Pundi X: On May 8, the Pundi X payment ecosystem was fully connected to USD 1, including XPOS and Pundi X Pay.
According to the official introduction, USD 1 is mainly aimed at institutional clients, and is positioned to provide secure and efficient cross-border payment and trading tools, while supporting the widespread application of the DeFi ecosystem. Zach Witkoff, co-founder of WLFI, once emphasized that USD 1 is a digital dollar stablecoin tailored for sovereign investors and large institutions, which can seamlessly and securely support cross-border transactions.
Zach Witkoff also revealed that there will be more cooperation related to the stablecoin USD 1 in the future. He said: World Liberty is preparing a lot of plans... We are working hard to promote the integration with traditional retail POS systems. At present, the progress of USD 1 cooperation is very rapid.
On May 7, WLFI started a new governance proposal: to test the airdrop feature by distributing $1 to all $WLFI holders - rewarding the earliest supporters and preparing for future development. The proposal ended on May 14, with a total of 11,780 votes and 99.96% of the voting weight in favor, and the proposal passed smoothly.
In general, since its launch, USD 1 has been demonstrating its future potential as a presidential family DeFi project with its multi-chain expansion and multi-protocol integration. Is the stablecoin endorsed by the US president expected to occupy a place in the stablecoin market and challenge the status of USDC and USDT? Subsequent market dynamics are worth further observation.
