USD1, the stablecoin issued by the Trump family's crypto venture World Liberty Financial, has moved from locking retail depositors out of a DeFi lending pool to paying fighters on the White House lawn. The UFC announced Friday that World Liberty Financial would serve as the presenting partner of a $250,000 performance bonus pool at UFC Freedom 250, a mixed martial arts contest held on the south lawn of the presidential residence on Sunday, June 14 — President Donald Trump's 80th birthday. Bonuses were paid in USD1 across seven matches.
USD1 on the White House Lawn
The payout is among the most prominent commercial deployments of USD1 to date. Todd Phillips, a crypto expert at Klaros Group, told The Guardian: "Paying the fighters in the USD1 stablecoin would have the same economic function as writing them a check. Announcing to the world they are doing it in USD1 sounds like they are advertising to the world that USD1 is out there and that it is connected to the UFC and the White House."
The Borrowing Controversy
Months earlier, CoinDesk reported on a borrowing dispute that briefly rattled WLFI token prices. World Liberty borrowed over $75 million in stablecoins from DeFi protocol Dolomite, whose co-founder Corey Caplan advises WLFI, using 3 billion WLFI governance tokens as collateral and depositing its own USD1. The borrowing pushed the USD1 pool to 93% utilization, locking retail depositors out. WLFI repaid $25 million, then minted $25 million in fresh USD1 days later, actively managing supply through April. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
Separately, World Liberty is in litigation with crypto tycoon Justin Sun, who sued the firm for allegedly freezing his WLFI holdings; WLFI countersued for defamation.
Supply Growth and Regulatory Push
Despite the noise, USD1's circulating supply has grown from $3.3 billion on Jan. 1 to roughly $4.6 billion. The company has also applied for a banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. From the White House lawn to a potential bank charter, World Liberty is betting that visibility and regulatory ambition will carve out a spot for USD1 in the crowded stablecoin market.