WLFI plans to launch institutional-level stablecoins USD1: First launch of Ethereum and BNB Chain, policy dividends and Trump's brand effect help

Author: Nancy, PANews

The stablecoin market is ushering in explosive growth, with its market value rising rapidly, and more and more new players are competing to enter the market. Recently, WLFI, the Trump family's crypto project, announced plans to launch USD1, a US dollar stablecoin for institutions. This move not only demonstrates the Trump family's ambitions in the field of encryption, but is also seen as a key step to adapt to regulatory trends and leverage brand effects to seize the market.

The first launch of Ethereum and BNB Chain, **the institutional

market has become the main target**

WLFI's intention to get involved in stablecoins has long been revealed.

Back in October last year, former Paxos CEO Rich Teo announced his joining WLFI as head of stablecoin and payments business. Paxos has issued several stablecoins, including BUSD, a stablecoin launched in cooperation with Binance. However, due to regulatory turmoil, the market value of the stablecoin has dropped from its peak of US$24 billion to only US$50 million. Shortly after Rich joined, Decrypt cited sources, WLFI plans to issue its own stablecoin, which is still in development and may take some time to launch.

In mid-March this year, Bloomberg reported that WLFI had negotiated cooperation with Binance. People familiar with the matter said the discussion between the two parties included the possibility of jointly developing a stablecoin backed by the US dollar. It is unclear at the moment when the negotiations are progressing, and it is not certain whether any deal or cooperation will be reached, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Recently, the market rumors have finally settled, and WLFI officially confirmed that USD1 will be launched soon. According to official reports, USD1 is a stablecoin that can be exchanged for US dollars 1:1, and will be 100% backed by short-term US government bonds, US dollar deposits and other cash equivalents. In the early stages of its launch, USD1 will be minted on Ethereum and BNB Chain blockchains, and plans to expand to other protocols in the future. Its reserve assets are custodianized by BitGo, one of the largest digital asset custodian companies in the United States, and are regularly audited by third-party accounting firms.

Different from algorithmic stablecoins or anonymous DeFi projects, USD1 combines the flexibility of DeFi and relies on the credibility and protection of traditional finance to avoid high-risk returns commitments. Unlike more other US dollar stablecoins for retail users, USD1 is mainly aimed at institutional customers and is positioned to provide secure and efficient cross-border payment and transaction tools, while supporting the widespread application of the DeFi ecosystem. But USD1’s target users do not seem to be retail investors. WLFI co-founder Zach Witkoff stressed that “USD1 is a digital dollar stablecoin tailored for sovereign investors and large institutions, which can seamlessly and safely support cross-border transactions.”

Block browser shows that USD1's smart contract was deployed three weeks ago, with a total supply of about 3.5 million, and only 6 token holders, including the market maker Wintermute address, which has undergone some test transfers.

Binance founder CZ also recently welcomed the deployment of USD1, saying that USD1 does not need to replace USDT and USDC, and the more stable coins, the better. He also reminded that many scammers have created currencies with the same name as this, but transactions have not yet been opened. Please do not be deceived.

The competition for stablecoins is getting fierce. **What are the

competitive advantages of USD1?**

The stablecoin market is expanding at an astonishing rate and its position in the global financial market is becoming increasingly prominent.

According to DeFillama data, as of March 26, the total market value of stablecoins exceeded US$234.62 billion, a record high, an increase of 65.3% year-on-year. Among them, the US dollar stablecoins USDT and USDC dominate the market, with a total market share of nearly 87.3%. ARK Invest even predicts that the stablecoin market size may even exceed $1 trillion in the long run. Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise, further pointed out that once stablecoins reach this scale, the overall pattern of the crypto market will be reshaped.

At the same time, according to the stablecoin report previously released by Dune and Artemis, as of February 2025, the supply of stablecoin has reached US$214 billion, and the active addresses have reached 30 million; the annual transfer volume has reached US$35 trillion, twice the annual throughput of Visa. It is worth noting that the report also pointed out that although centralized exchanges are still the main venue for stablecoin liquidity, DeFi has driven most of the transfers.

The rapid development of stablecoins is inseparable from the increasing improvement of global regulatory frameworks, including the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Singapore.

The company has made significant progress in stablecoin regulatory compliance, which provides greater space for the innovation and promotion of compliant stablecoins. For example, recently, USDC has become the first stablecoin in Japan to obtain official approval, and Thai regulators have identified USDT as a legal cryptocurrency. At the same time, the market competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and new players are accelerating their entry. For example, Fidelity is revealed to be planning to launch a stablecoin, World Network, owned by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is negotiating a stablecoin payment wallet cooperation, and crypto payment giant MoonPay acquires stablecoin company Iron at a high price.

Despite this, USD1 still has a significant competitive advantage. On the one hand, new trends in the United States' stablecoin regulation may clear obstacles for compliant dollar stablecoins, including not long ago, US President Trump also emphasized that as the US dollar returns to stablecoins, it will help expand the dominance of the dollar, and called on Congress to pass landmark legislation to formulate simple and common sense rules for stablecoins and market structures.

It is understood that there are currently a number of stablecoin bills in the United States that are being promoted in full swing, including STABLE Act, GENIUS Act and Waters. These proposals aim to provide a clear regulatory framework for US dollar-pegged payment stablecoins, promote innovation and protect consumers, thereby promoting global competitiveness of the digitalization of the US dollar. Among them, GENIUS Act is particularly eye-catching. The bill was jointly initiated by the two parties in the United States in February 2025, and clearly proposed to establish a federal regulatory framework to exclude payment stablecoins from the scope of securities and not regulated by the SEC (SEC). Issuers will be subject to federal or state supervision based on their size, and the bill explicitly prohibits algorithmic stablecoins to reduce systemic risks. GENIUS Act has received bipartisan support and White House push, and has recently been passed by the Senate with 18 votes in favor and 6 votes against, becoming the most likely proposal to sign into law in mid-2025. According to Bo Hines, executive director of the US President’s Digital Assets Task Force, recently disclosed that the U.S. stablecoin regulation bill may be submitted to President Trump for signature within two months.

On the other hand, Trump's brand effect will also bring strong financial and resource support to WLFI. At the funding level, WLFI has received up to $550 million through community public offering financing, of which $390 million is net income. In terms of resources, stablecoins play a crucial role in the DeFi ecosystem, and WLFI has established in-depth connections with leading DeFi projects through diversified investments, including leading projects such as Aave, Uniswap, Ethena, Chainlink and Ondo Finance.

Overall, with the rapid expansion of the global stablecoin market and the increasingly mature regulatory framework, the launch of USD1 is a strategic layout of WLFI, and has built a unique competitive advantage with its policy dividends, institutional differential positioning and Trump's brand influence.