- World Liberty Financial (WLF), closely associated with Donald Trump, has introduced USD1, a new stablecoin pegged to the US Dollar.
- The stablecoin will initially launch on Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain, with each token maintaining a $1 value through a third-party audited reserve portfolio.
- BitGo will manage the coin’s custody, leveraging their experience with projects like Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) in collaboration with Justin Sun and BiT Global.
- The launch has raised questions about potential insider knowledge, with Binance founder Changpeng Zhao previously highlighting a similarly named contract, and the project’s governance forums showing no prior discussion or activity.
World Liberty Financial (WLF), the crypto-project closely linked to US President Donald Trump, continues its foray into the crypto-sphere, with a brand-new stablecoin.
The coin with the name USD1 will initially launch on Ethereum and the Binance Smart Chain and will be pegged to the US Dollar.
Each token is intended to maintain a value of $1 USD, fully backed by a reserve portfolio audited regularly by a third-party accounting firm.
World Liberty FinancialThe coin’s custody will be managed by BitGo, which collaborates with Justin Sun and BiT Global on Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC).
Related: SEC Drops Case Against Australian Web3 Company Immutable
Did Insiders Have Prior Knowledge of Trump-Tied Stablecoin Launch?
Notably, there has been no governance discussion or voting on the USD1 launch or changes at World Liberty Financial.
A recent Protos report points out that the governance forum has been inactive since January 9, with only one vote held previously about launching an AAVE instance – a vote that concluded over three months ago but has yet to result in any implementation.
The situation is further complicated by indications that industry participants may have had prior knowledge of the project.
Specifically, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao had highlighted a contract on Binance Smart Chain with the same name before the project’s official announcement, suggesting potential insider awareness.
Despite Increasing Popularity of Stablecoins Not Everyone Thinks USD1 Good Idea
Stablecoins have become a popular topic and currently there is a push for legislation in the US Congress and Trump administration. Europe is also just in implementation stages of its MiCA rules to ensure market compliance.
Ripple, one of the biggest players in the blockchain industry recently launched their own RLUSD stablecoin.
Related: GameStop Adopts Bitcoin as Treasury Reserve, Shares Surge on Cryptocurrency Strategy
Dante Disparte, the Chief Strategy Officer, Head of Global Policy at Circle – the issuer of USDC, the second largest stablecoin – said they welcomed the competition given the size of the trillion-dollar payments market.
Other commentators have pointed to a perceived conflict of interest as WLF is associated with a sitting US President – who also happened to promote a memecoin in his name.
Credit: Source link
