Trump-Owned Firm Launches Another Coin Despite 'Conflict of Interest' Criticism

Issuing Stablecoin in a Growing Market

Raised $500 Million with Trump Meme Coin Right After Election

Donald Trump and his son's company, World Liberty Financial, is expanding its coin business despite ethical conflict of interest criticisms from issuing meme coins. This time, they plan to launch a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.

On the 25th (local time), according to foreign media such as Reuters, the company announced in a statement that it plans to launch a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. World Liberty stated that the stablecoin, USD1, is backed by US Treasury bonds, dollars, and other cash-like assets, and is designed to maintain a value of $1.

Dollar-pegged stablecoins like Tether and USDC have grown significantly in recent years. According to data provider CoinGecko, the total amount of stablecoins in circulation now exceeds $237 billion.

Stable tokens have become highly profitable for issuers in recent years. Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, made over $13 billion in revenue last year.

World Liberty Financial raised over $500 million from investors by issuing a meme coin right after Trump's inauguration.

World Liberty, established two months before Trump's victory in the US presidential election, was announced by Trump, his three sons, and wealthy real estate businessman Steve Witkoff, who is the father of Jack, Trump's Middle East envoy.

However, in January, his cryptocurrency business, including the launch of meme coins, was criticized by government ethics experts and digital asset industry experts for potential conflicts of interest.

World Liberty Venture, which aims to provide financial services without intermediaries like banks, announced last week that it raised $550 million by selling a cryptocurrency called $WLFI.

Kevin Lehtini, CEO of New York-based payment infrastructure company Borderless.XYZ, said Trump's USD1 will face fierce competition with existing companies that issued Tether and USDC.

The company added that USD1 will be launched on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain blockchains and plans to launch USD1 on other blockchains in the future. The reserves for this coin are held by Bitco, headquartered in California.

Guest reporter Jung-A Kim kja@hankyung.com