World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project backed by President Donald Trump’s family, announced plans for a stablecoin pinned to the U.S. dollar, just days after the president called on Congress to pass “commonsense” legislation to regulate that type of digital asset.
The token, USD1, will be backed by short-term U.S. government treasuries, U.S. dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents, the company said Tuesday. Tokens will be issued on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain blockchains.
The Trump family is reportedly in talks to take a financial stake in Binance, which has heavily benefited from Trump’s return to the White House. Binance’s founder was ousted as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Justice Department in 2023. In a recent statement, World Liberty Financial criticized reports discussing its relationship with Binance but stopped short of denying any claims.
World Liberty Financial has raised $550 million from more than 85,00 investors, including TRON founder Justin Sun, through selling the WLFI token. USD1 reserves will be protected by crypto custodian BitGo, which will also facilitate trades through its prime brokerage business, while a third-party accounting firm will audit the reserves.
Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency pegged to another asset, such as the U.S. dollar or gold. One of the most popular stablecoins is Tether, which has been criticized for its widespread use by criminals to move money. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s Cantor Fitzgerald has developed a close relationship with Tether.
During a short, prerecorded speech at the Digital Assets Summit on Friday, Trump criticized his predecessor’s tougher regulatory stance on crypto companies and called for Congress to pass legislation creating “simple, commonsense rules” for stablecoins.
“Pioneers like you will be able to improve our banking and payment system and promote greater privacy, safety, security, and wealth for American consumers and businesses alike,” Trump said at the summit last week. “You will unleash an explosion of economic growth.”
This stablecoin plan is the Trump family’s latest push into crypto, an industry the president embraced during his campaign after years of skepticism. Trump has put his name on several crypto projects, such as digital trading cards and the $TRUMP meme coin.
Like Trump Media and Technology Group’s stock, the value of $TRUMP has tanked since it was launched. However, it’s prone to rising based on the president’s comments. “I LOVE $TRUMP — So COOL!!! The Greatest of them all,” the president wrote Sunday, sending the token’s price up 12%.
And Trump Media stock jumped about 8% on Tuesday after it announced a tie-up with Crypto.com to start exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through the social media company’s Truth.Fi brand that will combine digital assets with securities with a “made in America” focus in industries such as energy.
The White House recently announced the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve and a separate stockpile of other digital assets. The U.S. owns more than 198,000 bitcoin, worth about $17.2 billion, according to Arkham. The U.S. also owns hundreds of millions of dollars worth of other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Tether.
The strategic reserve will hold a fixed supply of 21 million coins, according to Trump’s executive order, which compared bitcoin to “digital gold.” The Commerce and Treasury departments are also authorized to develop “budget neutral” strategies to acquire additional bitcoin.
—With reporting by Josh Fellman