CoinDesk
World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin was used to pay $250,000 in fighter performance bonuses at UFC Freedom 250, a mixed martial arts event held Sunday on the south lawn of the White House and timed to President Donald Trump's 80th birthday. The UFC confirmed Friday that World Liberty Financial would serve as presenting partner of the bonus pool, with payouts denominated in USD1 across seven matches.
The deployment is among the most prominent commercial uses of USD1 to date, and lands as the stablecoin's circulating supply has grown to roughly $4.6 billion from $3.3 billion on January 1. World Liberty Financial has separately applied for a national banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a step that would convert the issuer from a stablecoin-only operation into a regulated depository institution.
Why it matters
The optics are the point. Todd Phillips, a crypto specialist at the Klaros Group, told The Guardian that paying the fighters in USD1 is economically identical to writing them a check — but publicly doing so at the White House advertises the token's connection to both the UFC brand and the presidency. For a stablecoin still building recognition against $USDT and $USDC, that kind of stage time is hard to buy.
It also comes against a contested backdrop. World Liberty Financial borrowed more than $75 million from Dolomite, a DeFi lending protocol whose co-founder Corey Caplan advises WLFI, using 3 billion WLFI governance tokens as collateral — a move that pushed USD1 lending-pool utilization to 93% and briefly blocked retail depositors from withdrawing. The company is additionally in litigation with crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who sued alleging his WLFI holdings were improperly frozen; WLFI has countersued for defamation.
Market impact
USD1's $4.6B circulating supply puts it well behind Tether and Circle, but the trajectory — up from $3.3B at the start of the year — combined with a pending banking-license application signals the issuer is positioning for institutional distribution rather than retail trading volume.
Frequently asked questions
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What is USD1 and who issues it?
USD1 is a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by the family of President Donald Trump. Its circulating supply has grown to roughly $4.6 billion as of June 2026.
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What happened at UFC Freedom 250 with USD1?
UFC Freedom 250, a mixed martial arts event held on the south lawn of the White House on June 14, 2026, used USD1 to pay $250,000 in fighter performance bonuses across seven matches, with World Liberty Financial as the presenting partner.
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Why did USD1 briefly block retail withdrawals?
World Liberty Financial borrowed more than $75 million from the Dolomite DeFi lending protocol, using 3 billion WLFI governance tokens as collateral. The move pushed USD1 lending-pool utilization to 93%, temporarily preventing retail depositors from withdrawing.
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Is World Liberty Financial applying for a banking license?
Yes. World Liberty Financial has applied for a national banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a step that would convert the issuer from a stablecoin-only operation into a regulated depository institution.
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What is the Justin Sun litigation involving WLFI?
Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun sued World Liberty Financial, alleging the company improperly froze his WLFI governance token holdings. World Liberty Financial has countersued for defamation. The case is ongoing.
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