The USD1 stablecoin, linked to the Trump family, was utilized for fighter bonuses during a UFC event at the White House.
— At UFC Freedom 250, held on the White House lawn, World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin, which is backed by President Donald Trump’s family, distributed $250,000 in performance bonuses to fighters.
— This event follows a recent borrowing incident where World Liberty Financial secured $75 million from a DeFi protocol, resulting in the temporary exclusion of retail USD1 depositors, and ongoing legal disputes with crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun.
— The circulating supply of USD1 has now reached approximately $4.6 billion as World Liberty Financial pursues a federal banking license.
The USD1 stablecoin, part of the Trump family’s crypto initiative World Liberty Financial, has evolved from restricting retail depositors from a DeFi lending pool to being used for fighter payments at a White House event.
On Friday, the UFC announced that World Liberty Financial would act as the presenting partner for a $250,000 performance bonus pool at UFC Freedom 250, a mixed martial arts event taking place on the south lawn of the presidential residence on Sunday, June 14, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. The bonuses were awarded in USD1 across seven matches.
These awards represent some of the most significant commercial applications of USD1 to date.
This promotional effort comes months after reports from Decryptnews highlighted a borrowing issue that impacted the value of WLFI, the token associated with World Liberty Financial, and stirred concern within the project’s community.
The company borrowed over $75 million in stablecoins from Dolomite, a DeFi lending platform co-founded by Corey Caplan, who advises WLFI, utilizing 3 billion of its own WLFI governance tokens as collateral and including its own USD1 in the deal.
This borrowing led to a 93% utilization of the USD1 pool, meaning retail depositors who had lent USD1 to the pool expecting to withdraw freely were unable to do so until the loans were settled. WLFI repaid $25 million of the debt and subsequently minted another $25 million in USD1 days later, actively managing the token’s supply through April. World Liberty Financial did not respond to a request for comment regarding this matter.
World Liberty is also engaged in legal proceedings with Justin Sun, a crypto mogul and early investor in WLFI governance tokens, who has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming it wrongfully froze his assets. WLFI has countersued for defamation.
Some analysts believe that the commercial implications of Sunday’s event are clear.
«Compensating the fighters with the USD1 stablecoin serves the same economic purpose as issuing them a check,» Todd Phillips, a crypto specialist at the Klaros Group, told The Guardian. «By announcing to the public that they are doing this in USD1, it essentially advertises to everyone that USD1 exists and is associated with both the UFC and the White House.»
The circulating supply of USD1 has expanded from $3.3 billion on January 1 to around $4.6 billion.
The company has also sought a banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Trump’s financial disclosure indicates his investment in World Liberty Financial exceeds $50 million. The administration insists there is no conflict of interest, asserting that Trump’s assets are managed by a trust overseen by his children.
