Trump-backed World Liberty Financial unveils plans for new stablecoin

livemint.com:

World Liberty Financial, a crypto project backed by President Trump and his family, said it would launch a new stablecoin backed by U.S. government debt.

Named USD1, the token will backed by short-term U.S. government Treasurys, U.S. dollar deposits and other cash equivalents, the company said Tuesday. The token will be issued on blockchains created by both Ethereum and Binance, the crypto exchange that has sought to forge closer ties to the president’s family.

Representatives of President Trump’s family have held talks to take a financial stake in Binance’s U.S. arm, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin plan furthers the Trump family’s push into the crypto world. His new administration has pledged to make the U.S. the “undisputed bitcoin superpower and the crypto capital of the world," Trump has said.

Launched last October, World Liberty said recently it had raised $550 million from more than 85,000 U.S. and non-U.S. investors—including its largest investor Justin Sun, the founder of Tron—by selling a token called WLFI. Earlier this year, President Trump and first lady Melania also launched a pair of meme coins, a type of cryptocurrency with no intrinsic value.

USD1’s reserves will be safeguarded by crypto custodian BitGo and audited regularly by an unspecified third-party accounting firm, World Liberty said. BitGo’s prime brokerage business also agreed to facilitate clients’ USD1 trades.

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that aims to maintain a 1:1 exchange ratio with government-issued currencies such as the U.S. dollar. The most popular stablecoin is Tether, which traders have widely used to stash their cash, invest in other tokens and swap for traditional currencies. It