PONS, Binance Alpha’da işlem görmeye başlamasıyla birlikte daha geniş bir yatırımcı kitlesine ulaşırken, tokenın güçlü geri alım mekanizması da yeniden gündeme geldi. Robinhood Chain ekosistemindeki büyümenin etkisiyle dikkat çeken PONS, artan işlem hacmi ve gelirlerinin önemli bölümünü geri alımlara ayırması sayesinde talep tarafında yeni bir ivme yakalamaya çalışıyor. Ancak erken dönem yatırımcılarının elde ettiği yüksek kazançlar, token üzerinde potansiyel satış baskısının devam edebileceğini gösteriyor.
PONS Binance Alpha ile Daha Geniş Pazara Ulaşıyor PONS, lansmanından bu yana Robinhood Chain etrafındaki spekülasyonların da etkisiyle önemli bir işlem hacmine ulaştı. İki aylık süreçte 5 milyar doların üzerinde işlem hacmi görülmesi, tokena yönelik ilginin yalnızca lansman dönemindeki hareketlilikle sınırlı kalmadığını gösterdi. 2 Eylül’de Binance Alpha’ya eklenen PONS, böylece daha geniş bir işlem piyasasına erişim kazandı. Listeleme sonrasında token fiyatının 0,52 dolar seviyesine yükselmesi, mevcut piyasa momentumunun güçlenmesine katkı sağladı. Bundan sonraki süreçte spot işlem hacminin sürdürülebilirliği, PONS için daha geniş tabanlı talebin en önemli göstergelerinden biri olabilir.
İlginizi Çekebilir: Kripto Piyasası Neden Yükseliyor?
PONS açısından en önemli gelişmelerden biri, işlem faaliyetlerinden elde edilen gelirin geri alımlarda kullanılması. Günlük işlem hacminin Ağustos ayında 100 milyon doların altından ay sonunda 500 milyon doların üzerine çıkması, ekosistemdeki kullanımın hızlandığına işaret ediyor. Gelirlerin yaklaşık yüzde 80’inin geri alımlara yönlendirilmesi, günlük bazda yaklaşık 640 bin ila 800 bin dolarlık satın alma gücü oluşturuyor. Ayrıca yaklaşık 2 milyon dolarlık geri alım fonunun dağıtılmayı beklediği belirtiliyor. Arzın önemli bir bölümünün yakıldığına yönelik veriler de dikkate alındığında, işlem hacminin devam etmesi PONS üzerindeki kıtlık etkisini güçlendirebilir.
Balinaların Yüksek Kazançları Satış Riski Yaratıyor Ancak geri alım mekanizmasının karşısında önemli bir balina riski bulunuyor. World Liberty Financial danışmanı Ogle’ın yaklaşık 4.997 dolarlık yatırımını milyonlarca dolarlık bir PONS pozisyonuna dönüştürmesi, erken yatırımcıların elde ettiği olağanüstü kazançları ortaya koyuyor. Ogle’ın elinde yaklaşık 10,9 milyon PONS bulunurken bu varlıkların değerinin yaklaşık 5,58 milyon dolar olduğu belirtiliyor. Böyle yüksek gerçekleşmemiş kazançlar, erken dönem yatırımcılarının satış yapması halinde piyasada ciddi arz baskısı oluşturabilir.
Bu nedenle geri alımların satışları ne ölçüde karşılayabileceği, PONS fiyatının gelecekteki görünümü açısından kritik önem taşıyor. Binance Alpha listelemesi, PONS’un daha geniş yatırımcı kitlesine ulaşması açısından önemli bir adım olarak öne çıkıyor. Artan işlem hacmi, geri alımlar ve token yakımları talep tarafını desteklerken, yüksek kazançlı balinaların potansiyel satışları piyasadaki dengeyi zorlayabilir.
Değerlendirme PONS, Binance Alpha listelemesiyle birlikte Robinhood Chain merkezli hareketliliğin ötesine geçerek daha geniş bir piyasa erişimi elde ediyor. Gelirlerin büyük bölümünün geri alımlara yönlendirilmesi ve arz azaltıcı mekanizmalar, token için uzun vadede destekleyici unsurlar oluşturabilir. Ancak erken yatırımcıların yüksek gerçekleşmemiş kazançları önemli bir satış riski yaratıyor. Bu nedenle yatırımcıların önümüzdeki dönemde PONS işlem hacmini, geri alım faaliyetlerini, balina hareketlerini ve Binance Alpha sonrasındaki fiyat davranışını yakından takip etmesi önem taşıyor.
Son dakika kripto para haberleri için hemen tıkla.
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The UAE’s flagship artificial intelligence (AI) group G42 is exploring a sale of a majority stake to American companies, people familiar with the matter said. The move comes as it races to guarantee access to high-tech chips beyond next year. Notably, Sheik Tahnoon-linked companies have ties to Trump-linked World Liberty Financial.
G42 AI Firm Plans Selling Majority Stake for Chips Access Abu Dhabi-based AI firm G42 held talks over potentially selling a majority stake to American companies, Bloomberg reported on September 4.
This would mark a sharp shift for a company chaired by UAE National Security Adviser Sheik Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The company was built as the Emirate’s main plan for artificial intelligence, cloud, and data center ambitions.
The company aims to ensure long-term access to advanced AI chips after current export arrangements expire. Notably, G42 was allowed to purchase AI chips without a U.S. license until around April 2027.
However, a move by the US to tighten export controls on advanced AI chips impacted G42’s AI plans. The AI company depends on Nvidia and other U.S. chipmakers to power its large-language models.
How Will U.S. Ownership Help the Firm? G42 cut its China-linked holdings and hardware, including Huawei gear and a stake in ByteDance, in 2024. Majority US ownership could help meet export control and national security concerns that have pressured the firm for years.
Notably, Microsoft already holds a $1.5 billion minority stake and a board seat. Moreover, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co are also investors. No deal is finalized yet, and the company has declined to comment on the latest discussions.
The UAE is planning to invest $1.4 trillion in the US. This will lead to the Trump administration moving to ease export restrictions on the UAE. However, Sheikh Tahnoon’s StringZ Holding having a 49% majority stake in Trump’s World Liberty Financial’s WLTC Holdings has raised scrutiny.
G42 is also building a 5-gigawatt UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi, using chips supplied by Nvidia Corp. As part of those goals, the UAE has developed deeper ties with the US despite the Iran war.
Meanwhile, NVIDIA agreed to acquire AI platform Hugging Face for nearly $13 billion. CEO Jensen Huang said, “Together, we will scale Hugging Face’s platform, strengthen its infrastructure and expand access to AI for developers and institutions worldwide.”
As the UAE continues to consolidate its position as a global hub for technological innovation and digital assets, many investors are looking for the best crypto exchanges in UAE and Dubai to manage their portfolio alongside these expanding institutional developments.
A $5,000 Stake That Became MillionsOgle, known online as @cryptogle and listed as a key advisor to World Liberty Financial, has recorded one of the more striking on-chain wins of the current cycle. According to on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain, he turned an initial outlay of $4,997 into roughly $5.4 million by buying into the $PONS token early, representing a return of approximately 1,080 times his original stake.
Ogle initially acquired 10.607 million PONS tokens when the token's market cap sat at around $470,000. The token subsequently surged, briefly crossing a $500 million market cap. At current prices, his position of approximately 10.9 million PONS is worth around $5.58 million.
World Liberty Financial is a decentralized finance protocol associated with the Trump family. Ogle is listed as a key advisor to the project, which also counts Donald Trump as "chief crypto advocate" and Barron Trump as its "DeFi visionary."
What Is PONS?$PONS is the native token of the Pons launchpad, a permissionless token launchpad that has rapidly become one of the largest sources of new tokens on Robinhood Chain. Robinhood officially launched the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain on July 1, 2026, as an Ethereum Layer 2 built using the Arbitrum platform. While it operates in a meme-heavy ecosystem, PONS carries actual utility as a launchpad token with fee revenue, treasury buying, and burn mechanics tied to platform usage.
Pons announced that creators of platform tokens have collectively earned over $25 million in transaction fees to date. The protocol has attracted significant on-chain activity, with Pons recording the highest user-paid fees of any on-chain launchpad over a 24-hour window, generated from more than $500 million in trading volume.
Ogle's gain is a clear example of early conviction paying off in a high-risk, high-reward corner of the market. The trade also highlights the degree to which well-connected figures in the crypto industry are actively participating in speculative on-chain opportunities, even while holding advisory roles at major projects.
Sources:
What Is PONS Token? Robinhood Chain's Pump.fun Rival - KuCoin
Pons Claims Top On-Chain Launchpad Fees on Robinhood Chain - The Crypto Times
World Liberty Financial - Wikipedia
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
George Town, British Virgin Islands, September 1st, 2026, Chainwire
Aster, the privacy-first onchain trading platform backed by YZi Labs, today announced the kickoff of USD1 RWA Boost: Phase 1 with World Liberty Financial (WLFI), featuring 125,000,000 $WLFI and 6,250,000 USD1 in rewards.
The campaign builds on AOS-2, Aster’s earlier expansion of its Aster Open Standards (AOS) framework from spot markets to perpetuals.
Leonard, CEO at Aster, said: “AOS-2 is turning Aster from a decentralized perp exchange into an open infrastructure layer where anyone can launch and operate their own perpetual markets on top of Aster Chain. The first USD1 RWA perpetuals show that model is already working.”
AOS-2: A Published Standard for Perpetual Listings
AOS-2 is Aster’s standardized, onchain framework for initiating perpetual market listings, enabling projects to propose new markets through a transparent and automated process.
Applicants stake 1 million $ASTER, locked for four years with no early exit, before the proposal goes to an onchain validator vote. If approved, Aster’s risk team configures the market and the perpetual can go live as early as T+1; if rejected, the stake is returned in full.
Listing access runs on published onchain rules, while leverage and other trading parameters stay under Aster’s risk controls, letting Aster bring new markets to traders faster without giving up risk management.
The campaign runs from August 31 through December 31, 2026, covering SPCX/USD1, CL/USD1, XAU/USD1, SNDK/USD1, SKHYNIX/USD1, and MU/USD1.
Users earn Trading Points through taker volume on eligible USD1 pairs, which determine their share of the USD1 reward pool, while Open Interest (OI) Points are earned by holding eligible positions and determine their share of the $WLFI reward pool. Traders using Single Asset Mode with USD1 as collateral receive a 2x boost on OI Points. Rewards are calculated across weekly epochs and distributed the following week.
“When real-world assets trade onchain, the settlement asset matters as much as the market itself. Perpetuals on gold, energy, and equities, all denominated in USD1, give traders one dollar instrument across every one of these markets, and that is what stablecoins were built to do. We are supporting these markets because this is where onchain market structure is heading, and Phase 1 is only the start,” said Zach Witkoff, Co-Founder and CEO at World Liberty Financial.
Building the Frontier of Onchain Trading
AOS-2 gives Aster a repeatable, onchain path for bringing new markets to the platform, and the first USD1 RWA perpetual listings show that path is already at work. Paired with the ecosystem support from Aster and WLFI, the launch turns a new listing framework into real trading activity from day one.
As more real-world and crypto-native assets move onchain, Aster aims to become a leading venue for bringing new asset markets onchain. The map gets bigger from here.
About Aster
Aster is a privacy-first onchain trading platform backed by YZi Labs, with unique features like Hidden Orders to protect user trading activity. It pioneers the frontier of on-chain trading through perpetual futures, spots, and earn products for top-trending assets, including RWAs, memes, and core crypto markets. It is powered by Aster Chain, a Layer 1 blockchain built to power the future of decentralized finance.
Users can learn more about Aster on the official website or follow Aster on X.
*Disclaimer: Eligible pairs, reward parameters, and campaign rules are subject to change during the campaign. Please refer to the official campaign page for the latest eligible pair list and campaign details. Trading cryptocurrencies and leveraged products involves significant risk and may result in the loss of capital. This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment or financial advice.
George Town, British Virgin Islands, 1st September 2026, ChainwireBy Chainwire
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George Town, British Virgin Islands, September 1st, 2026, Chainwire
Aster, the privacy-first onchain trading platform backed by YZi Labs, today announced the kickoff of USD1 RWA Boost: Phase 1 with World Liberty Financial (WLFI), featuring 125,000,000 $WLFI and 6,250,000 USD1 in rewards.
The campaign builds on AOS-2, Aster's earlier expansion of its Aster Open Standards (AOS) framework from spot markets to perpetuals.
Leonard, CEO at Aster, said: "AOS-2 is turning Aster from a decentralized perp exchange into an open infrastructure layer where anyone can launch and operate their own perpetual markets on top of Aster Chain. The first USD1 RWA perpetuals show that model is already working."
AOS-2: A Published Standard for Perpetual Listings
AOS-2 is Aster’s standardized, onchain framework for initiating perpetual market listings, enabling projects to propose new markets through a transparent and automated process.
Applicants stake 1 million $ASTER, locked for four years with no early exit, before the proposal goes to an onchain validator vote. If approved, Aster's risk team configures the market and the perpetual can go live as early as T+1; if rejected, the stake is returned in full.
Listing access runs on published onchain rules, while leverage and other trading parameters stay under Aster's risk controls, letting Aster bring new markets to traders faster without giving up risk management.
The campaign runs from August 31 through December 31, 2026, covering SPCX/USD1, CL/USD1, XAU/USD1, SNDK/USD1, SKHYNIX/USD1, and MU/USD1.
Users earn Trading Points through taker volume on eligible USD1 pairs, which determine their share of the USD1 reward pool, while Open Interest (OI) Points are earned by holding eligible positions and determine their share of the $WLFI reward pool. Traders using Single Asset Mode with USD1 as collateral receive a 2x boost on OI Points. Rewards are calculated across weekly epochs and distributed the following week.
"When real-world assets trade onchain, the settlement asset matters as much as the market itself. Perpetuals on gold, energy, and equities, all denominated in USD1, give traders one dollar instrument across every one of these markets, and that is what stablecoins were built to do. We are supporting these markets because this is where onchain market structure is heading, and Phase 1 is only the start,” said Zach Witkoff, Co-Founder and CEO at World Liberty Financial.
Building the Frontier of Onchain Trading
AOS-2 gives Aster a repeatable, onchain path for bringing new markets to the platform, and the first USD1 RWA perpetual listings show that path is already at work. Paired with the ecosystem support from Aster and WLFI, the launch turns a new listing framework into real trading activity from day one.
As more real-world and crypto-native assets move onchain, Aster aims to become a leading venue for bringing new asset markets onchain. The map gets bigger from here.
About Aster
Aster is a privacy-first onchain trading platform backed by YZi Labs, with unique features like Hidden Orders to protect user trading activity. It pioneers the frontier of on-chain trading through perpetual futures, spots, and earn products for top-trending assets, including RWAs, memes, and core crypto markets. It is powered by Aster Chain, a Layer 1 blockchain built to power the future of decentralized finance.
Users can learn more about Aster on the official website or follow Aster on X.
*Disclaimer: Eligible pairs, reward parameters, and campaign rules are subject to change during the campaign. Please refer to the official campaign page for the latest eligible pair list and campaign details. Trading cryptocurrencies and leveraged products involves significant risk and may result in the loss of capital. This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment or financial advice.
September 1st, 2026 – George Town, British Virgin Islands
Aster, the privacy-first onchain trading platform backed by YZi Labs, today announced the kickoff of USD1 RWA Boost: Phase 1 with World Liberty Financial (WLFI), featuring 125,000,000 WLFI and 6,250,000 USD1 in rewards.
The campaign builds on AOS-2, Aster’s earlier expansion of its Aster Open Standards (AOS) framework from spot markets to perpetuals.
Leonard, CEO at Aster, said: “AOS-2 is turning Aster from a decentralized perp exchange into an open infrastructure layer where anyone can launch and operate their own perpetual markets on top of Aster Chain. The first USD1 RWA perpetuals show that model is already working.”
AOS-2: A Published Standard for Perpetual Listings
AOS-2 is Aster’s standardized, onchain framework for initiating perpetual market listings, enabling projects to propose new markets through a transparent and automated process.
Applicants stake 1 million $ASTER, locked for four years with no early exit, before the proposal goes to an onchain validator vote. If approved, Aster’s risk team configures the market and the perpetual can go live as early as T+1; if rejected, the stake is returned in full.
Listing access runs on published onchain rules, while leverage and other trading parameters stay under Aster’s risk controls, letting Aster bring new markets to traders faster without giving up risk management.
The campaign runs from August 31 through December 31, 2026, covering SPCX/USD1, CL/USD1, XAU/USD1, SNDK/USD1, SKHYNIX/USD1, and MU/USD1.
Users earn Trading Points through taker volume on eligible USD1 pairs, which determine their share of the USD1 reward pool, while Open Interest (OI) Points are earned by holding eligible positions and determine their share of the WLFI reward pool. Traders using Single Asset Mode with USD1 as collateral receive a 2x boost on OI Points. Rewards are calculated across weekly epochs and distributed the following week.
“When real-world assets trade onchain, the settlement asset matters as much as the market itself. Perpetuals on gold, energy, and equities, all denominated in USD1, give traders one dollar instrument across every one of these markets, and that is what stablecoins were built to do. We are supporting these markets because this is where onchain market structure is heading, and Phase 1 is only the start,” said Zach Witkoff, Co-Founder and CEO at World Liberty Financial.
Building the Frontier of Onchain Trading
AOS-2 gives Aster a repeatable, onchain path for bringing new markets to the platform, and the first USD1 RWA perpetual listings show that path is already at work. Paired with the ecosystem support from Aster and WLFI, the launch turns a new listing framework into real trading activity from day one.
As more real-world and crypto-native assets move onchain, Aster aims to become a leading venue for bringing new asset markets onchain. The map gets bigger from here.
About Aster
Aster is a privacy-first onchain trading platform backed by YZi Labs, with unique features like Hidden Orders to protect user trading activity. It pioneers the frontier of on-chain trading through perpetual futures, spots, and earn products for top-trending assets, including RWAs, memes, and core crypto markets. It is powered by Aster Chain, a Layer 1 blockchain built to power the future of decentralized finance.
Users can learn more about Aster on the official website or follow Aster on X.
*Disclaimer: Eligible pairs, reward parameters, and campaign rules are subject to change during the campaign. Please refer to the official campaign page for the latest eligible pair list and campaign details. Trading cryptocurrencies and leveraged products involves significant risk and may result in the loss of capital. This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment or financial advice.
George Town, British Virgin Islands, September 1st, 2026, Chainwire
Aster, the privacy-first onchain trading platform backed by YZi Labs, today announced the kickoff of USD1 RWA Boost: Phase 1 with World Liberty Financial (WLFI), featuring 125,000,000 $WLFI and 6,250,000 USD1 in rewards.
The campaign builds on AOS-2, Aster’s earlier expansion of its Aster Open Standards (AOS) framework from spot markets to perpetuals.
Leonard, CEO at Aster, said: “AOS-2 is turning Aster from a decentralized perp exchange into an open infrastructure layer where anyone can launch and operate their own perpetual markets on top of Aster Chain. The first USD1 RWA perpetuals show that model is already working.”
AOS-2: A Published Standard for Perpetual Listings
AOS-2 is Aster’s standardized, onchain framework for initiating perpetual market listings, enabling projects to propose new markets through a transparent and automated process.
Applicants stake 1 million $ASTER, locked for four years with no early exit, before the proposal goes to an onchain validator vote. If approved, Aster’s risk team configures the market and the perpetual can go live as early as T+1; if rejected, the stake is returned in full.
Listing access runs on published onchain rules, while leverage and other trading parameters stay under Aster’s risk controls, letting Aster bring new markets to traders faster without giving up risk management.
The campaign runs from August 31 through December 31, 2026, covering SPCX/USD1, CL/USD1, XAU/USD1, SNDK/USD1, SKHYNIX/USD1, and MU/USD1.
Users earn Trading Points through taker volume on eligible USD1 pairs, which determine their share of the USD1 reward pool, while Open Interest (OI) Points are earned by holding eligible positions and determine their share of the $WLFI reward pool. Traders using Single Asset Mode with USD1 as collateral receive a 2x boost on OI Points. Rewards are calculated across weekly epochs and distributed the following week.
“When real-world assets trade onchain, the settlement asset matters as much as the market itself. Perpetuals on gold, energy, and equities, all denominated in USD1, give traders one dollar instrument across every one of these markets, and that is what stablecoins were built to do. We are supporting these markets because this is where onchain market structure is heading, and Phase 1 is only the start,” said Zach Witkoff, Co-Founder and CEO at World Liberty Financial.
Building the Frontier of Onchain Trading
AOS-2 gives Aster a repeatable, onchain path for bringing new markets to the platform, and the first USD1 RWA perpetual listings show that path is already at work. Paired with the ecosystem support from Aster and WLFI, the launch turns a new listing framework into real trading activity from day one.
As more real-world and crypto-native assets move onchain, Aster aims to become a leading venue for bringing new asset markets onchain. The map gets bigger from here.
About Aster
Aster is a privacy-first onchain trading platform backed by YZi Labs, with unique features like Hidden Orders to protect user trading activity. It pioneers the frontier of on-chain trading through perpetual futures, spots, and earn products for top-trending assets, including RWAs, memes, and core crypto markets. It is powered by Aster Chain, a Layer 1 blockchain built to power the future of decentralized finance.
Users can learn more about Aster on the official website or follow Aster on X.
*Disclaimer: Eligible pairs, reward parameters, and campaign rules are subject to change during the campaign. Please refer to the official campaign page for the latest eligible pair list and campaign details. Trading cryptocurrencies and leveraged products involves significant risk and may result in the loss of capital. This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment or financial advice.
A Major Rewards Push for USD1 Perpetual Markets@WorldLibertyFi and @Aster_DEX have launched Phase 1 of the USD1 RWA Boost, a joint rewards program designed to drive activity across USD1-denominated real-world asset perpetual markets. The program is structured across 18 epochs, providing a steady, rolling incentive framework through the end of the year.
That capital base is intended to support market makers and reduce slippage across the newly listed RWA perpetual pairs.
Those contracts offer synthetic exposure to assets including SpaceX equity, crude oil, gold, SanDisk, and SK Hynix.
How Traders Earn Points and RewardsThe program splits incentives across two distinct behaviours. Traders accumulate Trading Points toward the USD1 pool by executing perpetual trades, while OI Points toward the $WLFI pool are earned by holding open positions.
The partnership between the two projects has been in development for some time.
USD1 itself has grown rapidly since its 2025 launch. The Aster partnership is part of a broader push by WLFI to embed USD1 into trading infrastructure.
Sources:
Crypto Briefing: Aster launches USD1 RWA Boost Phase 1 with 125M WLFI tokens in rewards
The Defiant: Aster to Settle RWA Perps Exclusively in USD1
EdgeX: Aster Launches USD1-Denominated RWA Perpetual Futures With $250M in World Liberty Financial Liquidity
World Liberty Financial launches USD1 natively on Canton NetworkLatest NewsPublishedAug 25, 2026
USD1 is the sixth-largest stablecoin, with a market capitalization of more than $4 billion, according to industry data.
World Liberty Financial has launched its USD1 stablecoin natively on the Canton Network, allowing institutions to use it to settle transactions involving tokenized real-world assets.
The stablecoin can be used as the cash leg for transactions including derivatives collateral, institutional lending, asset issuance and redemptions, according to a Tuesday announcement.
Native issuance allows USD1 to settle alongside tokenized assets in the same transaction while using Canton’s privacy and permissioning controls.
USD1 has a market capitalization of about $4.05 billion, making it the sixth-largest stablecoin, according to DeFiLlama data. The stablecoin is issued by BitGo Bank & Trust, which manages its reserves and processes mints and redemptions, according to World Liberty.
World Liberty Financial is a Trump family-backed crypto venture launched in 2024. USD1 debuted in March 2025 and is backed by reserves including short-term US Treasurys, government money market funds and dollar deposits, according to the company.
Canton, a public, permissionless blockchain designed for institutional finance, says it processes and issues more than $9 trillion in tokenized assets each month, with more than $350 billion in onchain US Treasurys moving across the network daily.
The integration follows another Canton expansion announced last week, when Digital Asset and former US House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Idea Foundation unveiled plans to pilot a Canton-based system for distributing state-administered benefits across three US states beginning in 2027.
Magazine: Bitget CEO isn’t buying the Bitcoin rally — She’s waiting for $50K
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Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and co-investors are backing a 49% stake in the holding company behind World Liberty Financial’s planned US bank, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Tahnoon, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser and brother of the country’s president, is part of an investment group that holds the largest stake in the entity created to house World Liberty’s banking venture.
The arrangement expands the relationship between the Abu Dhabi royal and the Trump family-backed crypto company. Tahnoon previously backed a $500 million investment in World Liberty Financial in exchange for a 49% stake in the company, the Journal reported.
The disclosure comes after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval earlier this month for World Liberty Trust Company, National Association. OCC records show the charter application was approved on Aug. 14.
The federally chartered national trust bank is intended to issue, redeem and safeguard USD1, World Liberty’s dollar-backed stablecoin.
Tahnoon oversees an investment network spanning his personal wealth and state-backed entities, with assets exceeding $1.3 trillion, according to the Journal.
The new banking venture further deepens World Liberty’s ties to the UAE as the company expands its stablecoin operations and financial infrastructure in the US.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
World Liberty Financial is facing fresh attention after new details emerged about the ownership of its planned banking business. According to a report, the investors linked to Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan control a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings.
WLTC Holdings was created for World Liberty’s planned bank, which recently received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Despite the development, the WLFI price is up 2.38% to trade at $0.05975 as of press time.
Sheikh Tahnoon-Linked Investors Hold Major WLTC Stake According to the WSJ, StringZ Holding RSC owns 49% of WLTC Holdings. Sheikh Tahnoon and other investors are reportedly behind StringZ Holding, while a Trump family-linked entity controls another 38%.
The reported stake adds to Tahnoon’s existing financial ties with World Liberty. He and other investors previously backed a $500 million investment in the company, which reportedly gave the group a 49% interest in World Liberty itself.
That earlier deal also directed about $263 million to Trump family entities, according to Donald Trump’s financial disclosure. The new ownership details therefore extend an already established relationship between the UAE-linked investors and World Liberty.
World Liberty Moves Closer to Launching a Bank The ownership disclosure comes as World Liberty pushes deeper into regulated financial services. The OCC recently granted the company preliminary conditional approval to establish a federally chartered national trust bank.
The bank would focus on issuing, redeeming, and safeguarding USD1, World Liberty’s dollar-backed stablecoin. USD1 currently has a market value of about $4 billion and is backed by U.S. Treasurys and cash equivalents.
World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff said the company aims “to build the most trusted and widely used digital dollar in the world.” However, the bank must still meet additional OCC requirements before it can begin operations.
UAE Links Draw Added Scrutiny Tahnoon’s role has attracted attention because he is the UAE’s national security adviser and the brother of the country’s president. He also controls G42, a state-backed artificial intelligence company.
At the same time, the Trump administration has negotiated with the UAE over access to advanced U.S. AI chips. G42 has received approval to purchase U.S. chips, which has increased scrutiny around the broader relationship.
World Liberty Financial spokesman David Wachsman said the company is “a private American financial technology company, not a political organization.” He also said the business does not receive special treatment.
Amid these concerns, World Liberty is also involved in a legal dispute with Justin Sun, who invested $45 million in the project. In a recent X post, Sun said a California federal judge allowed his individual claims to remain in open court.
Sun alleges that World Liberty improperly froze or restricted his WLFI tokens and is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, and has obtained an order preventing the permanent disposal of disputed tokens.
Despite this, the Trump-backed company has not accepted Sun’s allegations as facts while it advances its banking plans and USD1 operations.
For More on Crypto in the UAE, check our Best Crypto Exchanges in UAE and Dubai
World Liberty Financial’s proposed US trust bank has drawn a major Abu Dhabi backer, with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and co-investors reportedly controlling 49% of the holding company behind the federally chartered venture.
Summary
Sheikh Tahnoon’s group reportedly backs StringZ Holding, which owns 49% of the holding company behind World Liberty’s proposed US trust bank. A Trump family affiliated entity reportedly owns another 38% of WLTC Holdings. The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company on Aug. 14, with final authorization still required before operations can begin. The proposed bank would handle issuance, redemption and custody of World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin. Tahnoon previously backed a $500 million deal for a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial. The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 27, citing people familiar with the matter, that Tahnoon’s group is behind StringZ Holding RSC, which owns 49% of WLTC Holdings, the company formed around World Liberty Trust Company. An entity affiliated with US President Donald Trump’s family owns another 38%, one person familiar with the structure told the newspaper.
The reported ownership comes two weeks after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval to operate as a national trust bank. The OCC’s Aug. 14 decision lists StringZ among the investors in WLTC Holdings, although the published document does not identify Tahnoon as its backer or disclose the size of its holding.
Under the proposed structure, World Liberty Trust Company would take over issuance and redemption of World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin, manage the reserves supporting the token and provide digital asset custody services. The company’s January application also proposed institutional custody and conversion services once the bank becomes operational.
World Liberty Financial bank remains subject to final OCC approval World Liberty Trust Company cannot begin operating under the charter yet.
The OCC’s preliminary approval requires the company to satisfy its pre-opening conditions before the regulator grants final authorization. World Liberty had moved closer to approval by June, when former OCC officials told NOTUS that the Trump-linked company was widely expected to secure the national trust bank charter.
Its application describes WLTC Holdings as the sponsor of a de novo national trust company based in Florida. World Liberty Trust Company would not carry Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insurance, and its proposed business would focus on trust activities, stablecoin operations and digital asset custody.
The bank would also manage the reserves backing USD1. World Liberty’s application said those reserves would include US dollars held at financial institutions, US government money market funds and cash equivalents, with USD1 designed to maintain a one-to-one value against the dollar.
As part of its approval process, the OCC required three shareholders to sign commitments limiting their ability to influence management or control the bank, according to the Journal. StringZ was among the shareholders subject to those commitments, alongside a Trump family-affiliated entity and another shareholder associated with World Liberty co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro.
StringZ’s commitment was signed by Hamad Khlfan Ali Matar Alshamsi, according to the report. Alshamsi previously served as a director at G42, the Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence company chaired by Tahnoon.
Tahnoon previously backed a 49% World Liberty stake The reported bank investment follows Tahnoon’s earlier financial ties to World Liberty Financial itself.
A Tahnoon-backed investment vehicle acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for about $500 million shortly before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, according to earlier reporting. Crypto.news previously reported that the $500 million investment was made through Aryam Investment 1 and was signed by Eric Trump.
The investment placed Tahnoon-linked capital among World Liberty’s largest shareholders. Another crypto.news report said the transaction was completed four days before Trump’s inauguration and that Trump later said he had no knowledge of the deal, saying his sons and family handled the business.
Tahnoon serves as the UAE’s national security adviser and is the brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He also chairs G42, which has become one of Abu Dhabi’s main artificial intelligence companies.
The US government authorized exports of advanced artificial intelligence chips to G42 in November 2025 after Washington and Abu Dhabi had reached an AI cooperation framework earlier that year. The timing of US technology policy toward the UAE and Tahnoon’s investment in World Liberty later became part of questions raised by Democratic lawmakers.
In February, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim sought a national security review of the investment and asked whether the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States had examined the transaction. Their request also questioned whether foreign investors could obtain influence over World Liberty or access information connected to the company’s financial operations.
The lawmakers’ request followed calls for a CFIUS probe into the reported UAE investment and its ownership terms.
USD1 would move under the proposed trust bank World Liberty’s banking application places USD1 at the core of the proposed institution.
Launched in 2025, the dollar-pegged token was initially issued with reserves consisting of short-term US Treasuries, cash deposits and other cash equivalents. Its circulation later rose into the billions of dollars as World Liberty expanded distribution and institutional use.
By June 2026, USD1’s circulating supply had reached about $4.4 billion while World Liberty continued pursuing its trust bank charter, according to earlier USD1 coverage.
One of the token’s largest early transactions was tied to Abu Dhabi. MGX, an investment company chaired by Tahnoon, used USD1 for a $2 billion investment into Binance in 2025, bringing the stablecoin into a large institutional transaction shortly after its launch. The deal also drew political attention in Washington because of World Liberty’s links to the Trump family and Tahnoon’s role in the UAE government.
World Liberty’s proposed bank would bring issuance, redemption and reserve management for USD1 inside a federally supervised national trust company if the OCC grants final approval. Its filing also allows the trust company to provide digital asset custody to institutional clients.
Lawmakers have continued examining World Liberty’s foreign ties World Liberty’s ownership and bank application have remained under congressional scrutiny as regulators consider the trust company’s final authorization.
During the OCC review, Democratic lawmakers questioned Comptroller Jonathan Gould over how the agency would handle a bank application connected to the president’s family. Gould said during a June House Financial Services Committee hearing that the application would be assessed under existing banking law and government ethics requirements, as reported during the charter review.
The Journal reported that OCC officials said career staff handled World Liberty’s application and consulted experienced government ethics officials during the review. A World Liberty spokesperson separately said career OCC staff evaluated the filing against the statutory, regulatory and policy requirements governing bank charter applications.
The OCC’s published Aug. 14 decision confirms that World Liberty Trust Company received preliminary conditional approval and that StringZ is among its investors. Final authorization remains dependent on World Liberty satisfying the regulator’s conditions before opening the trust bank.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser, and his co-investors hold a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings, the holding company behind World Liberty Financial’s planned banking venture, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Aug. 27. The position is held through StringZ Holding RSC, while a Trump family-affiliated entity holds about 38%, the report said. The figures would make the Abu Dhabi investor and his co-investors the largest shareholders in the holding company behind the planned bank. World Liberty Financial, the Trump family-linked decentralized finance project, has been working since early 2026 to secure a federal charter for its stablecoin operations.
What the ownership disclosure shows The disclosure fills in the capital structure behind World Liberty’s push into federally chartered banking. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval this month for World Liberty to establish a national trust bank that would issue, redeem and safeguard its USD1 stablecoin, a step the company framed as clearing its first OCC hurdle. That approval remains conditional, and the bank must still meet OCC conditions and pass a final examination before it can begin operations.
A deepening Abu Dhabi relationship Tahnoon and his co-investors previously put $500 million into World Liberty Financial in January 2025 for a 49% stake in the company, a deal the site has covered as one of the largest sovereign-linked crypto investments. The new holding-company stake indicates the same investors are anchoring the banking arm as well as the broader crypto business, deepening the overlap between a U.S. presidential family’s ventures and a foreign state-linked investor.
What remains unclear The Journal report does not detail the identities of the co-investors alongside Tahnoon or how control is divided between the 49% and 38% blocks. Because the ownership figures come from the Journal’s reporting rather than a public filing, the full structure may not be confirmed until World Liberty or regulators publish formal documents. The OCC approval is preliminary and conditional, so the trust bank has not begun operating and could still fail to secure final clearance. It is also not yet clear whether the co-investors include sovereign-wealth vehicles or other institutional backers.
AUTHOR
Tokoni Uti is a Lagos-based writer with several years of experience. Her work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Free Press and the San Diego Free press among others. She is a graduate of Bowen University.
World Liberty Financial launches USD1 natively on Canton NetworkLatest NewsPublishedAug 25, 2026
USD1 is the sixth-largest stablecoin, with a market capitalization of more than $4 billion, according to industry data.
World Liberty Financial has launched its USD1 stablecoin natively on the Canton Network, allowing institutions to use it to settle transactions involving tokenized real-world assets.
The stablecoin can be used as the cash leg for transactions including derivatives collateral, institutional lending, asset issuance and redemptions, according to a Tuesday announcement.
Native issuance allows USD1 to settle alongside tokenized assets in the same transaction while using Canton’s privacy and permissioning controls.
USD1 has a market capitalization of about $4.05 billion, making it the sixth-largest stablecoin, according to DeFiLlama data. The stablecoin is issued by BitGo Bank & Trust, which manages its reserves and processes mints and redemptions, according to World Liberty.
World Liberty Financial is a Trump family-backed crypto venture launched in 2024. USD1 debuted in March 2025 and is backed by reserves including short-term US Treasurys, government money market funds and dollar deposits, according to the company.
Canton, a public, permissionless blockchain designed for institutional finance, says it processes and issues more than $9 trillion in tokenized assets each month, with more than $350 billion in onchain US Treasurys moving across the network daily.
The integration follows another Canton expansion announced last week, when Digital Asset and former US House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Idea Foundation unveiled plans to pilot a Canton-based system for distributing state-administered benefits across three US states beginning in 2027.
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World Liberty Financial has launched its $4.05 billion USD1 stablecoin natively on the Canton Network, giving institutions a dollar-based settlement asset for tokenized securities and other real-world assets.
Summary
USD1 can settle tokenized assets through Canton’s privacy and permissioning controls. Institutions can use the stablecoin for collateral, lending, issuance, redemptions, and cross-border payments. DeFiLlama ranks the $4.05 billion USD1 as the sixth-largest stablecoin. World Liberty’s proposed U.S. trust bank still requires final OCC authorization. USD1 gives Canton transactions a cash settlement option World Liberty Financial said in an Aug. 25 announcement that USD1 is now issued directly on Canton rather than arriving through a bridge from another blockchain.
Native issuance lets an institution exchange USD1 and a tokenized asset as parts of the same transaction. According to the announcement, Canton’s system synchronizes both transfers so the cash and asset can settle together, reducing the risk that one side completes while the other remains outstanding.
Canton applies privacy and permission controls to transactions conducted on its public blockchain. The network says the system allows participating firms to control which parties can view transaction information while supporting the compliance requirements used in regulated financial markets.
Through the integration, World Liberty said institutions can use USD1 to provide collateral for derivatives and institutional loans. The stablecoin can also fund asset issuances, process redemptions, support financing arrangements and settle cross-border payments around the clock.
Tokenized government debt and other financial assets often require a corresponding cash payment when they change hands. World Liberty said adding USD1 gives Canton users a fully reserved dollar stablecoin for that cash side without moving the transaction through a separate payment network.
According to World Liberty, USD1 is redeemable for U.S. dollars on a one-to-one basis. The company says its reserves include dollar deposits, U.S. government money market funds, and other cash equivalents, with reserve reports published monthly.
USD1 enters a network built around institutional assets Canton said more than $9 trillion in tokenized assets are issued or processed through its network each month. The company also reported that more than $350 billion in onchain U.S. Treasurys moves across Canton daily, although the figures represent activity rather than the total value locked on the blockchain.
Government debt on Canton is used as collateral, repurchase agreements, and treasury-management transactions, according to the USD1 announcement. In such trades, delays between the transfer of an asset and the related payment can tie up capital or require financial institutions to retain additional liquidity.
Canton’s synchronized settlement design allows the asset and payment to move at the same time. Native USD1 can now serve as the dollar-denominated payment in those transactions while remaining subject to the network’s privacy settings.
An earlier institutional transaction showed how the structure works with another stablecoin. Tradeweb said in July that Franklin Templeton transferred a tokenized U.S. Treasury security to Virtu Financial in exchange for USDCx, with Canton synchronizing the two sides in real time.
World Liberty and Canton initially disclosed plans for the USD1 deployment in December 2025, when the stablecoin had a market capitalization of more than $2 billion. At the time, the companies identified intraday repo and digital bond settlement among the intended uses.
USD1’s market value has since reached approximately $4.05 billion, according to DeFiLlama stablecoin data, placing it sixth among dollar-pegged tokens by capitalization. Stablecoin supply can increase when authorized parties mint new tokens and decline when holders redeem them.
In March 2025, World Liberty introduced USD1 as a dollar-backed token for institutional and retail transactions. BitGo Bank & Trust currently issues the stablecoin, manages its reserve assets, and processes minting and redemption requests on the company’s behalf.
World Liberty’s USD1 growth faces U.S. scrutiny The Canton deployment adds another institutional use for USD1 one day after crypto.news reported its $4 billion growth. World Liberty CEO Zach Witkoff attributed the increase to institutional demand and rejected claims that the company’s relationship with the Trump family accounted for the stablecoin’s adoption.
A $2 billion transaction has formed a large part of USD1’s early use. In May 2025, Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm MGX used the stablecoin to settle its investment in Binance after initially announcing the deal without identifying the settlement asset.
World Liberty’s connections to President Donald Trump and the involvement of a foreign state-backed investor have drawn questions from Democratic lawmakers. Public disclosures cited in previous coverage show that an entity affiliated with Trump and members of his family holds an interest in World Liberty’s parent company.
For U.S. institutions considering USD1, federal oversight of its issuer remains an important procedural issue. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company conditional charter approval on Aug. 14, allowing the company to proceed with organizing a national trust bank.
The OCC’s decision does not allow the proposed bank to begin operating. According to the regulator’s approval, World Liberty Trust must maintain at least $20 million in eligible capital, appoint a qualified internal audit manager, and complete other preopening requirements before receiving final authorization.
If the OCC issues that authorization, the trust company plans to take over USD1 issuance, redemption, and reserve management from BitGo. The proposed institution would also provide digital-asset custody and stablecoin conversion services to institutional clients under federal supervision.
Unlike a conventional commercial bank, World Liberty Trust would not accept ordinary deposits or make standard loans. National trust banks generally concentrate on custody, fiduciary, settlement, and asset-servicing activities, and the OCC can change, suspend, or withdraw its preliminary approval before the institution opens.
Canton is also preparing a U.S. benefits pilot Digital Asset, the company behind Canton, has also expanded the network’s proposed role in U.S. public-sector payments. In August, Digital Asset and former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Idea Foundation unveiled a benefits pilot scheduled to begin in three states during the first quarter of 2027, subject to federal approval.
Called Resources for Independence, Stability, and Employment, the program would combine separate benefits into monthly or twice-monthly payments. The organizations said Canton would apply rules covering approved spending categories while restricting access to recipients’ sensitive information.
Program administrators would also be able to adjust payments automatically when a recipient’s reported income changes, according to the announcement. Digital Asset and the foundation have not identified the participating states or disclosed which benefit programs will enter the pilot.
Key Takeaways World Liberty Financial has integrated its USD1 stablecoin as a native asset on Canton Network, targeting institutional applications With a valuation of $4.05 billion, USD1 now ranks as the sixth-largest stablecoin globally The stablecoin enables institutional firms to settle derivatives collateral, facilitate lending, issue assets, and execute cross-border transactions Canton Network handles more than $9 trillion in tokenized assets each month, with daily movements of $350 billion in tokenized US Treasurys World Liberty Trust Company secured conditional OCC charter approval in August but remains unauthorized to conduct operations World Liberty Financial has rolled out its USD1 stablecoin as a native asset on Canton Network, providing financial institutions with a dollar-denominated settlement mechanism for tokenized real-world assets.
This integration marks a shift from bridging USD1 from external blockchains to native issuance on Canton itself. The approach enables simultaneous settlement of both cash and asset components within a single transaction.
Canton’s Native Settlement Architecture The Canton platform employs a synchronized transfer mechanism that ensures both transaction legs complete together or not at all. This atomic settlement structure minimizes counterparty risk in institutional transactions involving tokenized instruments such as securities, bonds, and sovereign debt.
Canton incorporates granular privacy features and permission frameworks, enabling organizations to control transaction visibility according to their compliance obligations and regulatory constraints.
According to network data, Canton facilitates the transfer of over $9 trillion in tokenized assets monthly. The platform reports daily movement of more than $350 billion in tokenized US Treasury securities.
A practical demonstration of this infrastructure occurred last July when Tradeweb reported that Franklin Templeton executed a tokenized Treasury transfer to Virtu Financial against USDCx payment, with Canton coordinating the atomic swap in real time.
Financial institutions now have the option to substitute USD1 for alternatives like USDCx in the payment component of these transactions.
USD1 Development and Market Position USD1 made its debut in March 2025. The stablecoin maintains reserve backing consisting of short-duration US Treasury securities, government-sponsored money market funds, and cash deposits. BitGo Bank and Trust serves as the current issuer and reserve custodian.
The stablecoin’s market capitalization has expanded significantly from approximately $2 billion in December 2025, when World Liberty and Canton initially revealed their integration plans, to its current $4.05 billion level.
A substantial portion of this early expansion stemmed from a single $2 billion transaction. In May 2025, MGX, an Abu Dhabi government-backed investment entity, utilized USD1 to finalize its stake acquisition in Binance.
World Liberty CEO Zach Witkoff attributed the expansion to genuine institutional appetite and rejected suggestions that the Trump family’s association with the project influenced market adoption. World Liberty Financial emerged as a Trump-affiliated cryptocurrency initiative that launched in 2024.
The venture’s connections to President Donald Trump and participation from a foreign government-linked investor have attracted examination from Democratic members of Congress.
On August 14, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary authorization to establish a national trust bank. The entity must satisfy capital adequacy standards and additional regulatory prerequisites before commencing operations.
Upon final approval, World Liberty Trust would assume responsibility for USD1 issuance and reserve administration from BitGo, while offering federally regulated digital asset custody capabilities.
Canton is simultaneously pursuing public sector applications. Digital Asset, in partnership with former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Idea Foundation, intends to test a Canton-powered benefits disbursement platform across three US states beginning in early 2027, subject to federal authorization.
World Liberty Financial (WLFI) CEO Zach Witkoff has dismissed allegations that the firm’s USD1 stablecoin is being used to funnel funds to the Trump family.
In an interview with CNBC on the 25th of August, Witkoff downplayed the alleged “Trump cronyism” and political interference, citing USD1’s organic traction and utility.
There’s over $4 billion of USD1 in circulation and over a billion dollars trades every single day in volume in USD1.
He added,
USD1 had $1.7 billion in volume in the trailing 24 hours, and that speaks to the use case of USD1; it speaks to customers actually using it. So I would completely dispute that notion.
WLFI is a Trump family-backed DeFi project. In fact, in late 2025, the Wall Street Journal alleged that Binance’s Changpeng Zhao (CZ) helped scale USD1 before being granted a presidential pardon.
Notably, Zach Witkoff is the son of the current U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. As such, most critics have viewed the project with considerable skepticism. And Trump’s crypto windfall at the expense of retail traders has deepened this scrutiny.
Unfortunately, the perceived conflict of interest and alleged Trump corruption in the sector have derailed the CLARITY Act. Democrats withheld support for the crucial crypto bill due to limited ethics provisions.
Zach Witkoff doubles down on USD1 amid stablecoin boom However, Zach Witkoff maintained that he doesn’t focus on the conflict-of-interest claims and charges. Instead, he insisted that he wants to drive utility to World Liberty Financial’s users.
That said, the firm received a conditional trust charter license last week from the OCC, joining other players such as Ripple and Circle. The approval allows the firm to custody its own reserves linked to issued stablecoins.
For Witkoff, the move would help WLFI “institutionalize its business.”
Overall, USD1 has seen relatively strong growth compared to the rest of the sector. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, USD1’s market supply grew by +20% and hit $4B. In contrast, Tether’s USDT, the largest stablecoin, slipped 2% to $183B.
Source: CoinGecko Overall, USD1 has outperformed the stablecoin sector despite growing scrutiny of Trump’s crypto empire by Democrats.
Final Summary World Liberty Financial CEO discredited conflicts of interest and alleged Trump influence in USD1 growth. The stablecoin outperformed Tether’s USDT in supply growth by +20% in 2026.
TLDR World Liberty Financial says USD1 stablecoin circulation has topped $4 billion, driven by institutional demand. CEO Zach Witkoff denies that political ties to the Trump family fueled the growth. MGX used USD1 for its $2 billion Binance investment in 2025, an early institutional use case. The OCC gave preliminary approval for a related trust bank on August 14. Lawmakers continue to question foreign ownership links tied to the company. World Liberty Financial says its USD1 stablecoin has grown past $4 billion in circulation. The company’s CEO, Zach Witkoff, says the growth reflects real demand rather than political favors.
Witkoff made the comments after CNBC reported on the story on August 25. He said USD1’s growth shows the token is being used regardless of any ties to President Donald Trump’s administration.
The comments came shortly after federal regulators gave early approval for a new trust bank tied to the company.
How USD1 Has Grown Since Launch USD1 launched in March 2025. It is a dollar backed digital token, meaning each coin is supposed to be backed by cash and similar safe assets held at financial institutions.
The token became one of the larger dollar backed cryptocurrencies in the market. Its early growth was tied closely to one large deal.
Abu Dhabi backed investment fund MGX used USD1 to complete a $2 billion investment in the crypto exchange Binance in May 2025. Witkoff announced the deal at a conference in Dubai, calling USD1 the official settlement token for the transaction.
That single deal gave USD1 a boost in credibility. But it also tied much of its supply to one exchange.
A Forbes report from February, based on data from Arkham Intelligence, found that wallets linked to Binance and its customers held close to $4.7 billion in USD1. That made up about 87 percent of the token’s total supply at the time.
Circulation has since dropped below that peak level. World Liberty Financial says it remains above $4 billion today.
The stablecoin is currently available on several exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto.com.
Regulatory Approval and Political Questions On August 14, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company. The application had been filed by WLTC Holdings LLC back in January.
Under the proposed structure, the trust would issue and redeem USD1 tokens. It would also manage reserves and provide custody services, work currently handled by BitGo.
The trust would not offer retail banking services. It would not take deposits, offer checking accounts, or issue loans.
Political scrutiny of the company has grown alongside its business. According to Reuters, a firm connected to the Trump family controls 38 percent of World Liberty Financial’s parent company.
Zach Witkoff is the son of Steve Witkoff, who serves as a Trump envoy and is also an emeritus founder of the crypto company.
The White House has said Trump’s business assets are held in a trust controlled by his children. It has also said Trump is not personally managing World Liberty Financial while in office.
Scrutiny increased further after reports that an investment vehicle called Aryam Investment 1 took a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million. That vehicle is backed by UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who also chairs MGX.
In June, Democratic senators called for hearings into the deal. They want to know whether it played any role in decisions about selling weapons or advanced AI chips to other countries.
The OCC has said foreign investors cannot serve as principal shareholders of the proposed bank. Several investors reportedly signed agreements limiting their control over the bank’s operations to address that requirement.
For now, World Liberty Financial says USD1 remains above the $4 billion mark, and the trust bank application continues moving through the federal approval process.
The nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen reported that US President Donald Trump “left investors at least an estimated $4.7 billion underwater” since 2022 through his and his family’s digital asset ventures.
According to Public Citizen, investors lost billions of dollars through the Trump family World Liberty Financial governance token, the president’s nonfungible token (NFT) trading cards launched in 2022, his memecoin Official Trump (TRUMP) and Trump Media’s digital asset treasury.
The bulk of the estimated losses, according to the organization, came from investors in the TRUMP memecoin, with $3.2 billion lost, while buyers of World Liberty Financial‘s USD1 stablecoin “haven’t suffered major losses.” Public Citizen said that in the case of the memecoin, the losses represented “wealth transferred to a small group of early buyers rather than money that simply vanished.”
Estimated losses for investors in Donald Trump’s crypto ventures. Source: Public Citizen
According to Public Citizen, amid the $4.7 billion in investor losses, Trump earned $7.2 million from the NFT licensing fees and royalties, more than $600 million from World Liberty token sales and selling an equity stake, $635 million in licensing fees for his memecoin and $197 million in revenue from capital contributions to World Liberty. This did not reflect the stakes in companies and ventures he continues to hold. Some of the figures were included in the president’s 2025 disclosures, reporting $1.4 billion in earnings tied to crypto.
Cointelegraph reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive an immediate response. Spokesperson Anna Kelly has repeatedly said in response to questions on Trump’s crypto investments that there were “no conflicts of interest.”
Crypto bill still weeks away from potential voteAmid the crypto ventures and more “potentially on the way” from Trump, the group renewed calls for ethics provisions in a cryptocurrency market structure bill, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, claiming that “the president’s policy choices and personal portfolio cannot be separated” and any legislation should require a US president and his family to divest from projects in the industry.
Trump met with crypto company executives last week, calling for a “fair version” of the CLARITY Act to pass once the Senate returns to session next month. The bill is scheduled for a cloture vote on Sept. 15, which will require votes from at least 60 senators to advance.
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
The Trump-backed stablecoin's native deployment on the institutional settlement network completes the plumbing Tradeweb and Virtu just proved works — but Binance concentration and political baggage complicate the picture.
Tokenization has long suffered from a persistent plumbing problem: the assets moved, but the cash stayed behind. Today, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) attempted to bridge that gap by launching its USD1 stablecoin natively on the Canton Network. This is not merely another stablecoin deployment in a crowded market; it is the arrival of the missing cash leg required to make institutional-scale tokenized finance functional.
Canton Network, which already processes more than $9 trillion in tokenized assets monthly and over $350 billion in daily onchain U.S. Treasury repo, has been waiting for this kind of liquidity. Following the recent milestone where Tradeweb, Virtu, and M1X completed the first fully onchain repo transaction, the network had the infrastructure. Now, it has the currency to settle it.
USD1 enters the ecosystem with approximately $4.05 billion in market capitalization, positioning it as the sixth-largest stablecoin. Crucially, it is issued by BitGo Bank & Trust, N.A., a federally regulated trust authorized by the OCC. This institutional-grade issuance is bolstered by the preliminary conditional approval granted on August 14, 2026, for the World Liberty Trust Company (WLTC), a de novo national trust bank. This charter, which we previously covered in our reporting on the WLFD OCC Charter approval, may well serve as a regulatory template for future stablecoin issuers seeking to operate within the federal perimeter.
The technical advantage here is atomic settlement. By utilizing the CIP-56 token standard and the Global Synchronizer, Canton enables tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) to settle alongside their cash legs without the friction of traditional clearing delays. As Zak Folkman, WLFI co-founder and COO, noted: “Institutions have put trillions in US Treasuries and government debt onchain, but the dollar leg of settlements still runs on outdated infrastructure, creating a gap where the cost and the risk sit.”
For institutional participants like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and BNY Mellon, the addition of USD1 provides a necessary layer of optionality. Eric Saraniecki, co-founder and head of network strategy at Digital Asset, observed: “Deep, efficient markets need choice on both sides of a transaction. As more stablecoins become natively available on Canton, institutions gain greater flexibility in how they fund, settle, and move liquidity across applications and markets.”
However, the structural reality of USD1 is not without its vulnerabilities. The asset suffers from extreme concentration risk, with Binance wallets and user accounts holding approximately 84% of the circulating supply following the exchange’s conversion of BUSD reserves in December 2025. While the utility of the token is clear, this dependency on a single venue creates a potential point of failure that institutional risk managers will find difficult to ignore.
Then there is the political dimension. The Trump-backed venture, which raised approximately $590 million since its 2024 founding, carries significant reputational baggage. Between the UAE-linked investments exceeding $2 billion and the complex history involving the Binance CZ pardon and the Justin Sun litigation, the project is a lightning rod. For some institutions, the political optics may outweigh the technical utility. Yet, the market mechanism remains indifferent to the headlines; the demand for a compliant, natively settled dollar on a high-throughput network is a structural incentive that persists regardless of the venture’s origins.
Ultimately, the launch of USD1 on Canton represents a shift from pilot-phase experimentation to production-grade liquidity. By providing a regulated, natively settled cash leg, the network is moving closer to the goal of a fully integrated, onchain financial system. The market has signaled its preference for efficiency, and the underlying plumbing of atomic settlement is now the primary variable determining the success of these institutional deployments.
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Claude's paid usage tiers are criticized for deceptive wording: The $200 "20x" plan only grants 5 hours of access, with its weekly quota being three times that of the $100 tier.
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Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an influential member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, is backing the largest shareholder in the parent company of World Liberty Financial’s proposed US trust bank, according to people familiar with the matter.
Major Stakeholders and Ownership StructureSources cited by the Wall Street Journal stated that Sheikh Tahnoon and his co-investors are behind StringZ Holding RSC, which owns a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings. An entity linked to US President Donald Trump’s family holds another significant portion, reportedly controlling 38% of the company. The specific breakdown of these stakes has not been formally disclosed in public regulatory filings.
The planned trust bank, if approved, would manage the issuance, redemption, and custody of the World Liberty USD1 stablecoin under federal oversight, forming a bridge between regulated banking and digital assets. Bringing these activities under a federally chartered institution could mark a milestone for the US digital asset sector and facilitate institutional engagement.
Regulatory Process and ConditionsThe Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company on August 14. The OCC’s decision, released to the public, confirms StringZ as an investor in WLTC Holdings and cites signed commitments from StringZ not to influence the bank’s operations.
However, the OCC’s documentation does not specifically identify Sheikh Tahnoon as StringZ’s backer or provide details regarding the ownership stakes of individual shareholders. The trust bank must still fulfill all pre-opening conditions required by the OCC before receiving final approval to commence operations.
Background and Global ContextSheikh Tahnoon serves as the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser and chairs the artificial intelligence company G42. In November 2025, US authorities authorized the export of advanced AI chips to G42, building on a broader bilateral cooperation framework between Washington and Abu Dhabi in artificial intelligence.
Previously, Sheikh Tahnoon led a $500 million investment to acquire 49% of World Liberty Financial. That transaction attracted scrutiny from Democratic senators, who called for congressional hearings to examine the potential implications for US policy toward the UAE.
These developments reflect a broader global trend in finance, with major institutions increasingly leveraging new technologies for both regulatory compliance and efficiency gains. While traditional markets rely on complex brokers, a significant shift is underway as Wall Street is migrating to Web3. Investors now use platforms such as 1stepSwap to hold shares of top US companies, gold, and silver directly in their crypto wallets. By tokenizing real-world assets and automatically sourcing optimal pricing, these platforms eliminate intermediaries and provide greater market access.
The Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment on the family’s reported involvement in WLTC Holdings prior to publication.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval, confirming StringZ as an investor but not disclosing Sheikh Tahnoon’s direct involvement in regulatory filings.
In a related development, Public Citizen has reported that President Trump’s crypto-related ventures have cost investors $4.7 billion, intensifying scrutiny on digital asset projects linked to political figures.
Key Points An investment group led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser, reportedly controls 49% of WLTC Holdings, the parent company of World Liberty Financial’s proposed trust bank Trump family interests control an additional 38% stake in WLTC Holdings World Liberty Trust Company received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on August 14 The proposed institution would manage issuance, redemption, and custody services for the USD1 stablecoin, which currently maintains approximately $4 billion in market capitalization Congressional Democrats have demanded oversight hearings regarding possible conflicts of interest surrounding the transaction According to a Wall Street Journal report, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who serves as the UAE’s national security adviser, along with his investment partners, controls the largest ownership position in the holding company backing World Liberty Financial’s proposed United States trust bank.
Abu Dhabi Sheikh Tahnoon and Co-Investors Hold 49% Stake in World Liberty’s New Bank Holding Company
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser, and co-investors hold a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings, the holding company for World Liberty Financial’s… pic.twitter.com/jZWVPbucVi
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 27, 2026
The sheikh’s investment interests are channeled through StringZ Holding RSC, an entity that maintains a 49% ownership stake in WLTC Holdings. Meanwhile, a Trump family-connected entity commands an additional 38% interest.
The proposed banking institution is associated with World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency enterprise linked to President Donald Trump’s family. The trust bank would consolidate the issuance, redemption, and custodial operations for the USD1 stablecoin within a federally regulated framework.
USD1 maintains a market capitalization of approximately $4 billion, positioning it as the fourth-largest stablecoin by market value, trailing only Tether and USDC.
Regulatory Approval From OCC On August 14, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company. While the OCC’s published determination acknowledges StringZ as an investor, it does not specifically identify Tahnoon or reveal the exact ownership percentage.
The banking entity remains prohibited from commencing operations until it satisfies all pre-opening conditions set forth by the OCC and secures final authorization.
Sheikh Tahnoon serves as chairman of artificial intelligence firm G42. In November 2025, the United States government approved exports of sophisticated AI chips to G42, following a comprehensive bilateral AI cooperation framework between the US and UAE.
Earlier reporting by the WSJ revealed that Tahnoon’s investment platform discreetly obtained a 49% ownership position in World Liberty Financial for $500 million, mere days before Trump’s presidential inauguration.
Legislative Oversight Concerns Senate Democrats have called on Republican congressional leaders to convene hearings examining the deal and whether it influenced United States policy decisions concerning the UAE.
In February 2026, Representative Ro Khanna initiated a formal inquiry into UAE royal family capital being directed to World Liberty Financial.
The White House has dismissed conflict of interest allegations. Anna Kelly, serving as Principal Deputy Press Secretary, stated that “no conflicts of interest” exist and emphasized that “President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public.”
The OCC’s conditional authorization indicates the trust bank must still satisfy numerous regulatory prerequisites before commencing operations.
The arrangement continues to face examination from congressional Democrats and media outlets as the cryptocurrency banking initiative advances through the federal regulatory approval pipeline.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and co-investors own nearly half of WLTC Holdings.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' national security adviser with United States President Trump
Original Image Credits: U.S. Embassy in U.A.E., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Posted August 28, 2026 at 6:32 am EST.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser and brother of the country’s president, holds a 49% stake alongside co-investors in the holding company World Liberty Financial created to pursue a US bank charter, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Tahnoon is known as the “spy sheikh” for his position atop the Emirati intelligence apparatus.
The Journal identified the charter vehicle’s parent as WLTC Holdings and reported that Tahnoon and the other investors took their position through a separate entity, StringZ Holding RSC. The report comes barely two weeks after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company, National Association preliminary approval to operate as a national trust bank.
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World Liberty applied for the trust charter in January, saying the entity would handle stablecoin issuance, redemption, on-ramp and off-ramp services, and custody, with BitGo remaining a partner.
This is the second Tahnoon-linked 49% position reported in the Trump family’s crypto business. The Journal reported earlier this year that a Tahnoon-backed vehicle agreed to acquire 49% of World Liberty Financial itself for $500 million, in a deal signed four days before Trump’s January 2025 inauguration.
Five Senate Democrats demanded hearings in June over the UAE’s reported investment, and Representative Ro Khanna opened a House investigation in February into the matter.
Related Listen: New US Rules Could Force Coinbase to Delist Tether
AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
@WorldLibertyFi's $USD1 stablecoin has gained a significant new use case through a real-world asset (RWA) Vault built by @ConcreteXYZ, positioning the token as a yield-generating instrument backed by real economic activity rather than a simple payment tool.
What the Vault Does The vault, which operates on Ethereum, is open to whitelisted liquidity providers and targets an 8% APY, according to Concrete's platform. It channels $USD1 deposits into a diversified set of asset classes, all routed through the same execution layer.
The four core strategies inside the vault are:
1. Cross-border remittance settlement through @ZIGChain Markets.
2. Tokenized private credit through @Qiro_Finance.
3. Asset-backed European loans via @ColbFinance.
4. Data center financing using Origin Assets.
The structure means $USD1 holders can earn yield from diversified real-world exposure without having to source or manage individual RWA positions themselves.
USD1's Expanding Role in DeFi and RWA The Concrete integration is part of a broader push to deepen $USD1's on-chain utility.
The Concrete RWA Vault extends that momentum into the tokenized asset space, where real-world yields are increasingly being routed on-chain.
The move signals a clear strategic shift: $USD1 is being developed not only as a settlement or payment layer, but as a foundational asset for structured, yield-bearing DeFi products.
Sources
Concrete XYZ Earn Platform (RWA USD1 Vault details)
CoinDesk: World Liberty Financial Launches DeFi Lending Platform for USD1
RWA.xyz: USD1 Asset Overview
A Two-Pool Reward Structure Running Through Year-EndAster DEX has launched the first phase of its USD1 real-world asset (RWA) rewards campaign, running through December 31, 2026. The initiative is part of a broader partnership between Aster and World Liberty Financial (@worldlibertyfi), which has been positioning ethereum:0xda5e1988097297dcdc1f90d4dfe7909e847cbef6 as the base settlement layer for RWA perpetual markets on the platform.
The campaign distributes rewards across two independent pools. The combined growth fund holds 250 million WLFI tokens from World Liberty Financial and 12.5 million USD1 contributed by Aster. Of the WLFI allocation, 125 million tokens will be distributed based on eligible open interest, while a further 6.25 million USD1 will be allocated according to eligible trading volume. Because open interest and volume are tracked independently, traders can qualify for both pools simultaneously.
Aster is also offering a 2x open interest boost for eligible USD1-denominated RWA positions. The boost applies in full when traders use USD1 exclusively as collateral through Single Asset Mode. In Multi Asset Mode, USD1 must represent more than 50% of average collateral for the boost to apply.
USD1 as the Settlement Layer for RWA PerpsAster has listed SPCXUSD1, CLUSD1, XAUUSD1, SNDKUSD1 and SKHYNIXUSD1 under its AOS-2 standard, which sets the framework for new perpetual listings on the platform. The listed markets include assets linked to SpaceX, crude oil, gold, Sandisk and SK Hynix. USD1 is now the exclusive settlement asset for all of Aster's RWA and commodity contracts.
USD1 is a US-dollar stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial and custodied by BitGo Trust Company, backed by cash, short-duration US Treasury bills, and government money market funds. Launched on Ethereum and BNB Chain in March 2025, it had grown to a circulating supply of roughly $4 billion by mid-2026. For World Liberty Financial, the Aster arrangement drives utility for USD1 beyond transfers and lending, as every open position locks USD1 as collateral and every trade generates settlement volume.
For Aster, the commodity expansion tracks with its transformation from a crypto-only perp DEX into a multi-asset trading platform. The exchange already offers perpetuals on US equities alongside its core crypto derivatives and recently launched the genesis phase of Aster Chain, a privacy-focused Layer 1 using zero-knowledge proofs.
Sources:
CryptoNinjas: Aster Launches Five USD1 RWA Perpetual Markets
Dealroom: Aster Launches USD1-Settled RWA Perpetuals with $28M Liquidity Fund
The Defiant: Aster to Settle RWA Perps Exclusively in USD1
World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by the Trump family, has received preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national bank trust charter. This development could potentially disrupt efforts by the U.S. Senate to pass the Clarity Act, a significant crypto market-structure bill. The Clarity Act, which has already cleared the Senate Banking Committee, is now facing uncertainty as the Senate has adjourned without a final vote. The approval allows World Liberty Financial to manage its USD1 stablecoin under a federally chartered trust bank, subject to regulatory conditions. Pricing in prediction markets appears to reflect a decreased likelihood of the Clarity Act being signed into law this year, with the odds currently at 23.5% for a YES outcome, down from 26% just 24 hours ago.
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Key Takeaways Market pricing suggests a decreased likelihood of the Clarity Act being signed into law in 2026, now at 23.5% YES. The preliminary approval for World Liberty Financial’s trust charter could complicate the legislative process for the Clarity Act. The Clarity Act had previously gained momentum but now faces new challenges as the Senate adjourns without a vote. What to Watch Observers should monitor any developments regarding the Clarity Act’s progress once the Senate reconvenes. Key actors such as President Donald Trump and Senate leaders like Chuck Schumer and Tim Scott could influence the bill’s trajectory. Market participants may also react to any further regulatory actions involving World Liberty Financial, which could impact the legislative environment for crypto regulation. The situation remains fluid, and further announcements from political leaders will be crucial in determining the likelihood of the Clarity Act’s passage.
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Clarity Act Signed Into Law In 2026
Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h January 1 2027 23.5% — — View market → What Price Will Xrp Hit In August 2026
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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, to organize as a national trust bank. The decision, issued on August 14, gives the Trump family-linked crypto venture a federal regulatory stamp that most digital asset companies can only dream about.
It also lands squarely in the middle of a Senate fight over the CLARITY Act, legislation designed to regulate crypto-related profits for government officials and their affiliates.
What the charter actually allows The approval caps a 221-day review process that began when World Liberty Financial submitted its application in January 2026. If finalized, the charter would let World Liberty Trust directly issue, redeem, and custody its USD1 stablecoin under federal oversight.
That’s a meaningful upgrade from the current setup. USD1 is presently managed by BitGo, the well-known crypto custodian. Moving it under OCC supervision would place reserve management activities directly under a federal regulator’s watch.
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There are clear limits to what the charter permits, though. World Liberty Trust would not be authorized to accept insured deposits or make loans.
The USD1 stablecoin itself launched in March 2025, backed by cash, US Treasuries, and money-market funds. It operates across multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, and Tron. The stablecoin sits alongside WLF’s WLFI governance token, which lets holders participate in protocol decisions across the platform.
Zach Witkoff serves as CEO and chairman of the trust bank. He co-founded World Liberty Financial alongside Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who helped establish the DeFi protocol and governance platform back in 2024.
The 38% problem An entity affiliated with the Trump family holds a 38% ownership stake in World Liberty Financial. The Senate is actively debating the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, known as the CLARITY Act, which specifically aims to address conflicts of interest when public officials or their family members profit from crypto ventures.
Opponents of the CLARITY Act can point to the OCC’s rigorous review process as evidence that existing regulatory frameworks are sufficient. Supporters can argue the opposite: that the approval itself demonstrates why new guardrails are necessary.
A broader pattern in fintech chartering The OCC has seen an uptick in approvals for fintech and digital asset companies seeking national trust charters in 2026.
For institutional investors, a stablecoin operated under OCC supervision carries a different risk profile than one managed by a private custodian, even a reputable one like BitGo. Federal oversight of reserve management means regular examinations, capital requirements, and a regulatory framework that pension funds and asset managers are already comfortable navigating.
What to watch next The approval is preliminary and conditional. World Liberty Trust still needs to satisfy whatever requirements the OCC attached before the charter becomes final. Those conditions have not been publicly detailed, but they typically involve demonstrating adequate capitalization, governance structures, and compliance frameworks.
USD1 would operate with a level of regulatory backing that rivals like USDC and USDT don’t currently possess, despite Circle’s own banking relationships and Tether’s various compliance efforts. A federally chartered trust bank issuing a stablecoin is a first-of-its-kind structure.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
OCC Greenlights World Liberty Trust CompanyThe Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval on August 14 for World Liberty Trust Company, National Association to operate as a national trust bank. The entity is linked to World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency platform in which an affiliate of President Donald Trump and certain family members holds a reported 38% ownership stake.
Unlike traditional banks, this charter does not permit taking federally insured deposits or making loans. Instead, it authorizes fiduciary and related trust activities, with primary operations centered on the issuance and redemption of USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin. USD1 currently carries a market capitalisation of $4 billion and ranks as the fourth-largest stablecoin after Tether and USDC.
The OCC has granted preliminary conditional approval only. Final approval will not be granted until all preopening requirements are met. Among the conditions, World Liberty Trust must maintain a minimum of $20 million in tier 1 capital before commencing operations, designate a qualified internal audit manager, and notify the regulator of any major business plan changes.
A Federal Stamp That Complicates the CLARITY ActThe timing of the approval lands squarely in the middle of an already fractious Senate debate. The CLARITY Act is a digital asset market structure bill that passed the House of Representatives in July 2025 but has stalled in the Senate, held up by an unresolved ethics provision blocking the bipartisan votes needed for passage.
Senate Democrats are demanding stronger conflict-of-interest language covering top government officials, including the president and members of Congress. Prediction market odds for the bill becoming law in 2026 fell to between 33 and 37 percent as of late July, down sharply from above 80 percent in February. The Senate set the bill aside ahead of its August recess without a scheduled floor vote.
Senators Thom Tillis, a Republican, and Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, took on the task of brokering a compromise when it became clear that the White House-approved ethics section was not going to satisfy most Democrats. Critics argue the current draft does not go far enough. A draft ethics provision circulated in late July would sunset in January 2029, and opponents say it does not clearly address the main ways President Trump has accumulated crypto wealth.
Senator Elizabeth Warren went further, saying Trump is now the "first president in history to approve, operate, and supervise his own bank," a characterisation that captures the core tension the OCC approval adds to an already difficult legislative path. Warren had previously warned the OCC directly: "If the application is approved, you would promulgate rules that influence the profitability of the President's company."
Sources:
Bloomberg: World Liberty Crypto Bank Wins OCC Preliminary Approval
The Block: OCC Grants Conditional Approval for Trump-Backed World Liberty Trust Bank
CoinDesk: Senators Work on Stricter CLARITY Act Ethics Rules
Justin Sun claims to have won a first round against World Liberty Financial. On August 20, a federal judge in California reportedly refused to send all of his claims to private arbitration. This decision comes just days after the conditional green light granted by the OCC to World Liberty Trust Company, which is set to resume issuing the USD1 stablecoin.
In brief According to Justin Sun, Judge James Donato refused to submit all his claims to private arbitration, maintaining his individual claims before the federal court. On August 14, the OCC granted preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company, which plans to take over the issuance of USD1 and management of its reserves from BitGo. The fate of claims filed by Blue Anthem and Black Anthem remains to be determined. The written order regarding the August 20 hearing was not yet publicly available at the time of writing. Justin Sun obtains the maintenance of part of the case before the court The standoff between Justin Sun and World Liberty Financial has been going on for several months. The founder of Tron, who bought $45 million worth of WLFI tokens, brought the case before a federal court in San Francisco in April.
This dispute between WLFI and Justin Sun notably concerns the freezing of his tokens and the control powers that World Liberty would have integrated into the WLFI contract.
On June 2, World Liberty Financial asked Judge James Donato to force the plaintiffs to go through arbitration and to suspend the judicial procedure. The hearing on this request took place on August 20.
At its outcome, Sun stated that his personal claims would remain publicly reviewed before the federal court. In other words, World Liberty did not get the transfer of the entire dispute to a private procedure.
This distinction matters. Indeed, arbitration generally allows settling a conflict outside of public hearings and with much more limited visibility on exchanged documents.
However, nothing has yet been decided on the merits. Blue Anthem Limited and Black Anthem Limited, two companies also parties to the complaint, have their own claims. Their treatment remains under discussion. Importantly, the written order from the judge was not yet publicly available at the time of writing this article.
World Liberty prepares in parallel its bank for USD1 The timeline adds another dimension to the case. On August 14, six days before the hearing, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted a preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company.
The future national trust bank is to take charge of issuing and redeeming USD1, as well as managing its reserves. It plans to take over these activities from BitGo, which currently serves this role.
But World Liberty Trust cannot start its operations yet. Final authorization depends on meeting several conditions imposed by the OCC.
The bank must notably have at least $20 million in Tier 1 capital. It must also maintain sufficient liquid assets to cover 180 days of operational expenses and notify the regulator before any significant changes to its business model.
The OCC also retains the possibility to modify, suspend, or withdraw its preliminary approval before the official opening of the institution.
Another element in the document deserves attention: World Liberty Trust will neither be able to issue, hold, nor trade WLFI tokens. However, the OCC specifies that World Liberty Financial and the future bank indirectly share some owners.
On paper, a clear boundary is thus drawn between the WLFI token and the banking activities related to USD1.
Previous token freezes fuel questions This separation comes as the control powers exercised over certain assets linked to World Liberty are already at the heart of several conflicts.
In June, World Liberty Financial froze some on-chain addresses associated with HTX as part of a sanctions compliance review. The crypto platform challenged this decision and suspended several pairs involving WLFI and USD1. It also announced the conversion of its users’ USD1 holdings into USDT.
A few months earlier, in September 2025, Justin Sun himself saw a significant portion of his WLFI tokens blocked after movements to exchange platforms. This episode notably led to the current dispute.
The legal battle is not limited to California. World Liberty also sued Justin Sun for defamation and market manipulation in a separate proceeding.
For now, none of these proceedings have concluded on the merits of the accusations.
The next steps should bring more clarity. On one side, Judge Donato’s written order will specify which claims will remain before the court and which might still be subject to arbitration. On the other, World Liberty Trust must meet the OCC’s requirements before obtaining its final authorization.
Two separate cases, but the same underlying question: how far does the control exercised within the World Liberty ecosystem extend, as USD1 is about to enter a federally regulated banking framework reinforced by the American legislation on stablecoins?
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Fenelon L.
Passionné par le Bitcoin, j'aime explorer les méandres de la blockchain et des cryptos et je partage mes découvertes avec la communauté. Mon rêve est de vivre dans un monde où la vie privée et la liberté financière sont garanties pour tous, et je crois fermement que Bitcoin est l'outil qui peut rendre cela possible.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
Eric Trump denied that President Donald Trump is preparing to launch a new coin, calling the claim fraudulent in a post that drew 2.1 million views on X.
He responded to a post claiming the President was launching a new coin.
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What a joke… This is absolutely not true. No one is launching any kind of coin. If anyone is suggesting otherwise, it’s a fraud. https://t.co/H0nWXNL8rn
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) August 22, 2026 Three Trump-Linked Coins Trade Far Below Their PeaksThe denial concerns a new token. Nonetheless, three Trump-linked assets already trade, but their performance has been far from impressive. Each trades sharply below its all-time high.
Official Trump (TRUMP) launched on Solana on January 17, 2025, three days before the second inauguration. It reached $73.43 within two days and has since lost most of its value.
TRUMP set a record low of $1.37 on August 13 and has since climbed about 88%. That rebound tracked a broader market rally.
Performance Of Trump-Linked Tokens. Source: BeInCryptoMelania Meme (MELANIA) followed two days after TRUMP. It now changes hands for around $0.086, about 99% below its peak, with a market value of $86 million.
Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) began trading in September 2025 and briefly touched $0.33. Eric Trump also lists it in his X profile. The governance token sits near $0.06, roughly 78% down.
Losses, Senate Scrutiny, and Public OppositionThe declines have had a measurable cost for buyers. Blockchain analytics firm Nansen previously tracked about 1.48 million wallets that bought TRUMP. It counted 988,905 underwater, with $3.81 billion in combined losses.
As of the latest data, the picture has not changed much. Among wallets still holding meaningful TRUMP, the majority are underwater. Nansen data consistently shows ~85–95%+ of held positions at a loss, most clustered near −97% unrealized ROI.
However, the outcome has been different for the President himself. Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in crypto income for 2025. His disclosure listed over $500 million from WLFI sales and more than $600 million through CIC Digital.
Senate Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal, have pushed for investigations into potential national security risks from Trump’s crypto ties.
Public backlash has also followed. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 63% of Americans call the profits inappropriate, while 69% said his business interests shape presidential decisions.
Senators face a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15. One draft provision would bar sitting officials from issuing digital assets, turning Eric Trump’s denial into a legal requirement.
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Eric Trump accepts in black and white not to get involved in the management of the future deposit bank of World Liberty Financial. On paper, a gesture of regulatory goodwill. In fact, a file that already drags its share of shadows… Between ongoing crypto lawsuits, loans recalling bad memories, and criticisms coming from all political sides.
In brief Eric Trump, Zak Folkman and an Emirati investor agree to stay away from the management of the future bank of World Liberty Financial. Justin Sun accuses World Liberty of freezing his tokens and blocking his voting rights; the case remains before a federal court. The OCC has already approved similar charters for Ripple, Paxos, Fidelity, and Coinbase, signifying a well-assumed pro-crypto shift. Crypto: Eric Trump Agrees to Kneel Before Regulators Eric Trump, the co-founder of World Liberty Zak Folkman, and the Emirati investor Hamad Khalfan Ali Matar Alshamsi have each accepted through related companies to stay away from management decisions of the group’s future federal deposit bank. The technical term is “passivity commitment”, a non-control commitment.
These agreements were made public at the moment when World Liberty just obtained its preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. If the federal charter is approved, the company could internally hold the reserves of its stablecoin USD1 which reaches nearly 4 billion dollars in capitalization, rather than depending on a third party for that. According to World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman, the intention behind this maneuver is that the company plans to remain under federal supervision for years.
The Lawsuit Hanging Over the Entire Operation of World Liberty Financial World Liberty Financial’s transparency commitment falls precisely at the moment when the company drags behind it a heavy legal file that tarnishes its image. Justin Sun, the founder of Tron and the largest external investor in the project with 75 million dollars invested, filed a lawsuit in April against World Liberty. The company would have:
Frozen all of his tokens; Deprived him of his governance voting rights; Threatened to permanently destroy his holdings. World Liberty countered, of course, with a defamation complaint accusing Justin Sun of orchestrating a smear campaign after breaking his own contractual commitments. Both proceedings are still ongoing and a federal judge even refused to send the Sun case to a private arbitration court.
Another detail fueling doubts is an investigation published in April revealing that World Liberty had deposited 5 billion of its own WLFI tokens on the Dolomite lending platform as collateral to borrow about 75 million dollars in stablecoins. The procedure has a déjà-vu air for all those who followed the fall of FTX… Using its own token as collateral to raise funds… a circular leverage scheme that several observers have judged risky. This has fueled public criticism from all sides. Notably Hunter Biden, who today denounces what he calls a blatant conflict of interest.
The Regulatory Climate Turned Pro-Crypto in the United States? This World Liberty file is not played in a void because the current Comptroller of the Currency, Jonathan Gould, seems to have made the approval of new banking charters one of his stated priorities. A sharp turn compared to the previous administration, much more cautious about requests coming from the crypto sector. Ripple, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets also won similar conditional approvals in 2025. Coinbase followed earlier this year.
In other words, the climate has reversed. What was an exception just two years ago is becoming almost the norm today for big names in crypto aiming for a federal banking charter. Recently, it was Donald Trump himself who met at the White House with leaders of several crypto companies, while the SEC finalized in parallel a broader regulatory framework for the entire sector.
The non-control commitment signed by Eric Trump for World Liberty Financial meets on paper the requirements of federal regulators. But between an ongoing Justin Sun lawsuit, a loan that recalls the worst hours of FTX, and family financial ties never fully cleared… The promise to remain “passive” struggles to erase the persisting questions.
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Eddy S.
The world is evolving and adaptation is the best weapon to survive in this undulating universe. Originally a crypto community manager, I am interested in anything that is directly or indirectly related to blockchain and its derivatives. To share my experience and promote a field that I am passionate about, nothing is better than writing informative and relaxed articles.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
Justin Sun’s lawsuit against World Liberty Financial has cleared a major procedural hurdle, and the case is staying in open court. A federal judge rejected World Liberty’s attempt to push all of Sun’s claims into private arbitration and seal the proceedings, allowing his individual claims to continue publicly.
Justin Sun Lawsuit Moves Into Public ViewThe dispute stems from Sun’s reported $45 million investment in WLFI, involving 4 billion tokens. Sun is seeking hundreds of million of dollars in damages, alleging that World Liberty Financial secretly retained contractual powers to freeze, transfer and burn holders tokens and then exercised those powers against him.
That makes the court fight considerably more interesting than a routine investor dispute. The arbitration request could have kept much of the battle away from public scrutiny. Instead, the federal court ruling leaves Sun’s individual claims exposed to public examination.
Sun Turns Token DIspute Into Ownership FightSun has now framed the Justin Sun lawsuit as something much bigger than the money involved. In a statement, he argued that the dispute concerns one of blockchain’s foundational ideas: whether holding an asset actually means having control over it.
His argument centers on the alleged ability of an issuer to freeze a holder’s assets without disclosure, governance or a formal process. Sun claims that his tokens were subjected to those controls within days of becoming unlocked.
The rhetoric is deliberately sharp. The phrase “freedom in the name, control in the code” captures the argument he is taking to court, while also putting the spotlight directly on the contract design behind WLFI and USD1.
Code Versus Control Now Faces Court ScrutinySun says the case could establish a legal precedent around what asset ownership means in blockchain markets. His position is straightforward: if an issue can arbitrarily seize or freeze tokens, then digital ownership starts looking rather different from the permissionless ownership that helped define the industry.
The argument remains Sun’ allegation, not a final judicial finding on the underlying dispute. The latest ruling concerns whether his claims can proceed publicly rather than deciding the ultimate merits of those claims.
For now, the Justin Sun lawsuit has moved another step into the spotlight, with the federal court keeping Sun’s individual claims in open proceedings. WHat happens next could determine whether the dispute remains a fight over $45 million and 4 billion tokens or becomes a much broader test of control and ownership in token contracts.
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Trust with CoinPedia:CoinPedia has been delivering accurate and timely cryptocurrency and blockchain updates since 2017. All content is created by our expert panel of analysts and journalists, following strict Editorial Guidelines based on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Every article is fact-checked against reputable sources to ensure accuracy, transparency, and reliability. Our review policy guarantees unbiased evaluations when recommending exchanges, platforms, or tools. We strive to provide timely updates about everything crypto & blockchain, right from startups to industry majors.
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Justin Sun has secured a procedural win in his legal dispute with World Liberty Financial (WLFI). A California federal judge rejected the company’s attempt to move Sun’s individual claims into confidential arbitration.
Judge James Donato ruled that Sun’s personal claims can remain in public court. The decision does not determine whether Sun’s allegations are valid. However, it means his claims will continue through the court system, rather than being handled entirely behind closed doors.
Sun Alleges WLFI Restricted His TokensToday, my counsel appeared in California federal court to oppose World Liberty Financial's @worldlibertyfi efforts to force our dispute into secret arbitration proceedings and seal documents from public view.
We argued forcefully that this case belongs in open court—and the…
— H.E. Justin Sun 👨🚀 🌞 (@justinsuntron) August 20, 2026 Sun claims he invested $45 million in WLFI. Furthermore, he alleges that the project’s smart contracts give it the ability to freeze, restrict or burn tokens.
He said, “Token holders deserve to see how projects treat the people who trust them.”
He claims those controls were used against his wallet. He has also raised concerns about similar functions in USD1, WLFI’s stablecoin.
He said, “World Liberty has given itself the technical ability to freeze or destroy their assets at any time,”
Sun has described these features as “backdoor functions.” He is alleging they could allow token holdings to be frozen or destroyed without notice.
He has also questioned whether WLFI has enough funds to cover potential claims. Sun argues that the assets backing USD1’s reported $4 billion market capitalization belong to users. Therefore, they should not be treated as company capital available to pay potential judgments.
Sun said he has not seen evidence that WLFI has sufficient additional capital to cover possible liabilities. He urged investors to exercise caution.
WLFI Rejects Sun’s ClaimsWLFI has denied Sun’s allegations. Co-founder Zach Witkoff has called the claims “entirely meritless.”
WLFI has also filed a counterclaim in Florida accusing Sun of defamation and improper transfers.
Meanwhile, WLFI continues to expand its business. The project recently appointed a new chief business officer for USD1 and is pursuing an artificial intelligence partnership with WorldClaw.
Separate Claims Over $75 MillionThe Trump family’s business, World Liberty Financial, is corruption at a scale we’ve never seen.
World Liberty is currently being sued by Justin Sun, a major crypto founder, for:
1.Seizing his $75 million $WLFI investment.
2.Secretly adding controls allowing it to unilaterally…
— Hunter Biden (@HunterBiden) August 20, 2026 Crypto investigator Hunter Biden has separately alleged that WLFI seized Sun’s $75 million investment. He also claims WLFI borrowed $75 million using its own token as collateral.
Biden compared the alleged structure to the type of circular leverage associated with the collapse of FTX. These claims have not been established as findings by a court.
He also highlighted WLFI’s reported preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to become a national trust bank.
Biden further pointed to an Abu Dhabi-linked entity’s reported 49% stake in WLFI. He also pointed to a separate UAE-based fund’s reported $100 million investment in the project. These claims also remain allegations.
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Trust with CoinPedia:CoinPedia has been delivering accurate and timely cryptocurrency and blockchain updates since 2017. All content is created by our expert panel of analysts and journalists, following strict Editorial Guidelines based on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Every article is fact-checked against reputable sources to ensure accuracy, transparency, and reliability. Our review policy guarantees unbiased evaluations when recommending exchanges, platforms, or tools. We strive to provide timely updates about everything crypto & blockchain, right from startups to industry majors.
Investment Disclaimer:All opinions and insights shared represent the author's own views on current market conditions. Please do your own research before making investment decisions. Neither the writer nor the publication assumes responsibility for your financial choices.
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World Liberty Financial investors including Eric Trump have agreed to limit their influence over the management of the company’s proposed national trust bank as it moves through the federal approval process.
Trump, World Liberty cofounder Zak Folkman and Emirati businessman Hamad Khalfan Ali Matar Alshamsi signed agreements known as passivity commitments on behalf of their respective companies, according to documents disclosed alongside the bank’s preliminary approval last week.
The agreements commit the investors to avoiding influence over the bank’s management. World Liberty said the arrangements are intended to ensure certain stakeholders do not exercise control over the operations of World Liberty Trust Company.
The commitments have attracted attention because of World Liberty’s connections to President Donald Trump’s family and foreign investors.
Similar arrangements have previously been used by major institutional investors. Vanguard Group has pledged not to influence banks held in its investment portfolios, while China’s sovereign wealth fund entered a passivity agreement when acquiring a stake in Morgan Stanley.
World Liberty said it intends to operate under continued federal oversight.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary approval last week. The charter still requires final approval.
If approved, the trust bank would be able to issue and redeem World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin, manage its reserves and provide digital asset custody services. It would not operate as a traditional commercial bank.
The proposed charter has faced political scrutiny because of the Trump family’s financial interests in World Liberty.
Senate Democrats including Elizabeth Warren have introduced legislation that would prevent regulators from approving bank charters for companies owned or controlled by a president or members of their immediate family.
World Liberty has said Trump and his family do not serve as officers, directors or employees of the company. The White House has rejected claims that the president’s financial interests create a conflict of interest.
The bank application also includes organizers and directors connected to the Witkoff family, including Zach Witkoff, Scott Alper and Robert Witkoff.
World Liberty’s ownership structure has also drawn scrutiny. Before Trump’s inauguration, the company agreed to sell a 49% stake to a firm backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the brother of the United Arab Emirates president, for $500 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Securing a charter would allow World Liberty to bring issuance and reserve management for USD1 in-house. The stablecoin has a market capitalization of nearly $4 billion, making it one of the world’s largest dollar-backed stablecoins.
The OCC has taken a more receptive stance toward crypto banking applications under Comptroller Jonathan Gould. Ripple, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets received conditional trust bank approvals in 2025, while Coinbase received similar approval earlier this year.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Pakistan has announced a new regulatory framework for crypto after banning the asset class for close to a decade,
Announcing the news in an X post Friday, Bilal Bin Saqib, the special assistant to the prime minister on blockchain and cryptocurrency, invited foreign businesses to come to the country and set up shop.
Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Act introduces the country’s first comprehensive legal framework for overseeing virtual assets and the businesses that operate in this space.
8 years of prohibition end today.
Chairman PVARA @BilalBinSaqib announces the notification of the Licensing Regulations and the opening of the licensing portal, and sets out what licensing requires of providers and what it guarantees consumers.
Get licensed. Get compliant. Come… pic.twitter.com/STVPsoX1so
— Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (@PakistanVARA) August 21, 2026 “For approximately a decade, Pakistan’s answer to virtual assets was complete permission and complete ban — but history tells us that technology never waits for permission,” Bin Saqib said.
He added: “To the companies watching Pakistan from outside, the front door is open for you. Come, get licensed. Come, get banked. Come, build here under rules that are clear, public and enforceable.”
In a separate post, Bin Saqib said that the country now has “the rules, the regulator and the licensing framework to bring virtual assets into the formal economy, protect consumers and build the foundation for the next generation of financial infrastructure.”
Pakistan’s virtual Assets Act was approved by the senate earlier this year and then signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari. Friday’s announcement indicates that licensing regulations are now in place.
Pakistan has made a crypto-friendly pivot in recent years. In 2025, plans to launch a national strategic Bitcoin reserve were announced at the Bitcoin 2025.
Before that, the country announced that it was allocating 2,000 MW of surplus electricity to Bitcoin mining and AI data centers in an initiative aimed at generating revenue, creating jobs, and attracting foreign investment, according to the Pakistani government.
The country has played an important part as a mediator between the U.S. and Iran. A relationship started forming between the two after it became an affiliate of Trump-backed crypto project, World Liberty Financial.
Weeks after President Donald Trump’s return to power last year, WLF leaders went to Islamabad to meet with Pakistan’s prime minister.
Mathew Di Salvo
Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.
The latest court ruling keeps potentially sensitive allegations in public view as the wider dispute continues.
Justin Sun said Thursday that a California federal judge ruled his individual claims against World Liberty Financial will stay in open court, rejecting the Trump-linked project’s push to force the dispute into private arbitration and seal the case from public view.
The ruling keeps alive one of crypto’s messiest ongoing legal fights, one that has grown from a token-freezing dispute into a broader case questioning whether World Liberty and its USD1 stablecoin can actually cover what they owe.
Sun Says Individual Claims Will Stay Public Sun made the comments in a post on X after his counsel appeared in federal court in San Francisco to oppose World Liberty Financial’s request for arbitration and sealed proceedings.
“Today, my counsel appeared in California federal court to oppose World Liberty Financial’s efforts to force our dispute into secret arbitration proceedings and seal documents from public view,” Sun wrote. “The Court agreed with us.”
According to the crypto entrepreneur, the judge ruled that all of his individual claims will remain in open court. The judge also rejected World Liberty’s position that all company-related claims should be arbitrated, with the parties instead ordered to meet and confer over which of those claims should stay in court and which could proceed through arbitration.
Sun’s lawsuit dates back to April. He alleges that World Liberty froze his WLFI tokens, removed his governance rights, and threatened to burn the tokens. He is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
The dispute escalated after the former Grenada diplomat questioned the project’s control over its token contracts. As CryptoPotato reported back in April, blockchain researcher banteg had identified a blacklist function added to a later version of the WLFI contract, along with a “batch reallocation” feature.
In his X post, he wrote that he has since learned World Liberty built the same freeze-and-burn capability into its USD1 stablecoin and warned USD1 holders that the company has already shown a willingness to use those functions.
You may also like: WLFI Pumps and Dumps as Trump-Backed World Liberty Gets Green Light for US Bank Charter WLFI Holders Dump 1.8B Tokens in Record Profit Event WLFI Lawsuit Sparks Response: Justin Sun Calls It ‘Meritless’ He also pointed to World Liberty depositing roughly 5 billion WLFI tokens, about half its treasury, as collateral on Dolomite, a lending platform co-founded by its own chief technology officer, to borrow at least $75 million in stablecoins, including its own USD1, a structure he said analysts have compared to the circular leverage that collapsed FTX.
Sun added that USD1’s reported $4 billion market cap is user collateral, not money that could be used to pay a court judgment, and stated that he has seen no sign that World Liberty holds enough capital to cover a claim worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Dispute Has Widened Since April The legal fight followed a governance dispute over more than 62 billion WLFI tokens, with Sun objecting back in April to a proposal that would place different groups of locked tokens under new vesting terms, as well as the alleged existence of a separate control structure involving an anonymous guardian address and a 3-of-5 multisignature group.
He argued that holders who rejected the proposal could face indefinite restrictions and called the arrangement “a dictatorship wearing the mask of a DAO.” World Liberty rejected his accusations, telling him on X:
“We have the contracts. We have the evidence. We have the truth. See you in court pal.”
The firm indeed filed its own defamation lawsuit in Florida, accusing Sun of spreading false claims, an accusation he dismissed as “nothing more than a meritless PR stunt.”
Crypto billionaire and Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun recently secured a limited procedural success in his ongoing legal dispute with World Liberty Financial. A federal judge in California ruled that Sun’s personal claims against the Trump-linked crypto project will remain in open federal court rather than being shifted entirely into private arbitration.
The decision, issued following a hearing on August 20, 2026, rejects World Liberty Financial’s bid to move the full set of claims behind closed doors and keep related documents sealed from public view.
Today, my counsel appeared in California federal court to oppose World Liberty Financial's @worldlibertyfi efforts to force our dispute into secret arbitration proceedings and seal documents from public view.
We argued forcefully that this case belongs in open court—and the…
— H.E. Justin Sun 👨🚀 🌞 (@justinsuntron) August 20, 2026
Sun, who co-founded the Tron blockchain and ranks among the wealthiest figures in digital assets, filed the lawsuit in April 2026 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
The case, assigned to Judge James Donato, stems from Sun’s substantial early investment in World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token.
He committed approximately $45 million to acquire billions of the tokens, positioning himself as one of the project’s largest and earliest supporters at a time when the token sale needed momentum.
According to Sun’s complaint, after those funds helped the project raise hundreds of millions, World Liberty Financial embedded undisclosed controls in the WLFI smart contract.
These features allegedly allowed the company to freeze, restrict, or permanently destroy tokens held by any investor without prior notice.
Sun claims the company later activated those powers against his holdings, preventing him from selling tokens that had become tradable on secondary markets in September 2025 and stripping him of related governance rights.
He is seeking hundreds of millions in damages and previously obtained a court order blocking permanent disposal of the disputed tokens.
World Liberty Financial has denied the allegations.
Company representatives have stated that any freezing authority was disclosed in risk notices and the terms governing Sun’s purchases, and that actions were taken to protect the platform and its users after alleged misconduct by Sun.
The firm has also filed a separate defamation lawsuit against him in Florida, accusing him of running a public campaign that harmed the project’s reputation and token price.
Sun has dismissed that countersuit as baseless.
In the latest development, the judge determined that Sun’s individual claims belong in the public courtroom.
Claims involving companies controlled by Sun must still be sorted: the parties have been directed to meet and confer to decide which of those should stay in federal court and which should proceed to arbitration.
The ruling does not address the merits of the underlying fraud or contract claims and leaves open the possibility that World Liberty Financial could later seek dismissal of some or all counts.
Sun described the outcome as significant, emphasizing that token holders deserve visibility into how projects treat early supporters.
The dispute continues to draw attention because of World Liberty Financial’s ties to President Donald Trump and his family, who co-founded the venture.
WLFI has experienced sharp price volatility amid the legal uncertainty, losing a large portion of its value since public trading began.
While the procedural win keeps key elements of the case transparent and under judicial scrutiny, the core questions—whether the company improperly restricted investor assets and whether Sun breached agreements—remain unresolved and will require further litigation or negotiation.
TRON founder Justin Sun has scored a key procedural win in his World Liberty Financial lawsuit.
On August 20, 2026, a California federal judge rejected an attempt by the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial project to push Sun’s claims into secret arbitration.
Sun’s individual claims will now proceed in open court, shining a public spotlight on a dispute that began with a $45 million investment.
California Judge Rejects WLFI’s Push for Private Arbitration Judge James Donato of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California heard arguments from both sides on August 20.
World Liberty Financial had asked the court to force all of Sun’s claims into confidential arbitration and seal the case from public view. The judge denied that request for Sun’s individual claims.
The court also declined to send every company-related claim to arbitration. Instead, the two parties were ordered to meet and work out which claims stay in open court and which might proceed privately.
Sun called the outcome a victory for transparency. “The judge ruled that all of my individual claims will remain in the public courtroom,” Sun posted on X shortly after the hearing.
The case, Sun et al. v. World Liberty Financial LLC, No. 3:26-cv-03360-JD, was filed in April 2026 and centers on Sun’s allegation that WLFI secretly embedded backdoor controls in its smart contract.
He claims those controls allowed the team to freeze, restrict, or burn token holdings without notice, and that the project used those powers against him after their relationship soured.
Sun’s $45 million commitment, $30 million in November 2024 for 2 billion tokens, plus another $15 million in January 2025, made him WLFI’s largest early backer.
He also received 1 billion tokens as an adviser. His total holdings reportedly reached around 4 billion tokens, with peak valuations estimated between $300 million and $1 billion.
The World Liberty Financial team has since expanded its institutional push, appointing a new Chief Business Officer for USD1 even as the legal battle escalates.
Backdoor Allegations and What’s at Stake for Crypto Investors At the core of Sun’s complaint is the allegation that WLFI’s smart contract was not as decentralized as marketed.
He claims the team installed hidden functions capable of freezing or destroying any holder’s tokens, and later turned those tools on his own wallet.
He also raised similar concerns about the project’s USD1 stablecoin, which reportedly carries identical freeze and burn controls.
Sun has also questioned whether World Liberty Financial holds enough capital to satisfy a judgment worth hundreds of millions.
Reports indicate WLFI posted roughly five billion tokens as collateral on Dolomite, a lending platform co-founded by WLFI’s own CTO, a detail Sun’s legal team is expected to pursue in discovery.
The project’s recent expansion moves, including a new AI partnership with WorldClaw, have continued despite the litigation.
World Liberty has denied wrongdoing. Co-founder Zach Witkoff previously called Sun’s claims “entirely meritless.”
WLFI also filed a counterclaim in Florida, accusing Sun of running a defamation campaign and engaging in improper transfers.
Wednesday’s ruling does not decide the merits of either side’s case. But keeping Sun’s claims in open court means filings, evidence, and arguments will remain visible to investors, regulators, and the public.
The case raises a broader question for the industry: when a project markets decentralization but embeds administrative override powers in its smart contract, who protects the token holder? That question now has a public stage.
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Most Americans view President Donald Trump’s crypto earnings as improper, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in which 63% of respondents called the profits his family drew from digital assets inappropriate.
The same survey found that 69% believe his private business interests shape his presidential decisions. Half of Republican respondents shared that view.
Poll Puts Trump’s $1.4 Billion Crypto Income Under ScrutinyThe online survey covered 1,166 US adults between August 14 and August 17. It carried a margin of error of 3 percentage points for all Americans and 5 points for each party group.
About 32% of respondents defended the family’s crypto earnings. Among Republicans, roughly 69% described it as appropriate, while 27% did not.
Americans’ View on Trump’s Crypto Profit. Source: ReutersThe sums involved are large. Trump reported more than $1.4 billion last year from family crypto ventures, according to his financial filings. Those ventures included World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and his self-branded meme coin.
Richard Painter, chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, noted that the mix of business and office has no modern parallel.
“We have seen nothing like this before, even the first Trump administration did not have as many complex business interests as the second,” he said.
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White House Rejects Conflict Claims as Midterms NearWhite House has repeatedly dismissed the criticism, affirming that independent financial institutions manage the President’s investments and that no conflicts exist.
“There are no conflicts of interest…The President only acts in the best interests of the American public,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement.
Congressional pressure has grown regardless. Senate Democrats requested committee hearings in July into the national security implications of the President’s crypto holdings.
Token performance complicates the political argument. Official Trump (TRUMP) trades near $1.7, down about 81% over the past year, and Trump-endorsed tokens sit below their pre-endorsement prices.
Official Trump (TRUMP) Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto MarketsPublic dissatisfaction stretches beyond his digital asset ventures. A separate Financial Times poll this month found 53% of registered voters said their finances had worsened under his presidency.
Democrats led Republicans 44% to 39% in that survey. Whether that translates into seats will be settled in November.
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Justin Sun said Thursday that a federal judge rejected an effort by World Liberty Financial to move all of his claims into private arbitration, marking the latest development in his legal dispute with the crypto project.
Sun said in a post on X that his individual claims will remain in open court following a hearing in California federal court. He said the judge also rejected World Liberty’s argument that all claims connected to his companies must be arbitrated.
The parties were instead ordered to meet and determine which company related claims should remain in court and which should proceed through arbitration, according to Sun.
The case, Sun et al v. World Liberty Financial LLC, was filed in April in the US District Court for the Northern District of California and is assigned to Judge James Donato.
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Sun sued World Liberty after investing $45 million in the project, alleging fraud and accusing the company of using mechanisms in its smart contracts to freeze his WLFI tokens. World Liberty has disputed Sun’s allegations and separately accused him of damaging the company through a public campaign against it.
In his Thursday post, Sun said World Liberty had sought to move the dispute behind closed doors and argued that token holders should be able to see how the project handles its investors.
Sun also repeated allegations from his complaint that World Liberty secretly embedded functionality allowing it to freeze, restrict or burn WLFI tokens and later used those controls against his holdings.
World Liberty’s risk disclosures state that it can block or freeze wallet addresses and associated tokens when it determines they are linked to illegal activity or violations of its terms. The company has previously said Sun agreed to its freezing authority under an agreement governing his tokens.
Sun’s lawsuit seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. He previously obtained an order preventing World Liberty from permanently burning, reallocating or otherwise disposing of the tokens involved in the dispute, according to his account of the litigation.
Sun also raised concerns Thursday about World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin and the company’s financial position, though those claims remain allegations and have not been established by the court.
The broader dispute remains unresolved. World Liberty has denied wrongdoing and has separately sued Sun in Florida for defamation, accusing him of conducting a campaign to damage the company’s reputation and WLFI token. Sun has denied those allegations.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
