USD1, launched in March 2025 by World Liberty Financial, describes itself as a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin. It aims to maintain a 1:1 value with the US dollar by being 100% backed by high-quality, liquid reserves like short-term U.S. Treasuries and cash. These reserves are held by BitGo, a qualified digital asset custodian, and the project commits to regular third-party audits for transparency, positioning USD1 as an "institution-ready" stablecoin.

Project Function

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol and governance platform that provides transparent and accessible crypto financial services. Its core functions include operating a crypto lending and borrowing service built on an Aave v3 instance, enabling users to earn interest through DeFi yield products, and facilitating the minting and redemption of its USD1 stablecoin. The platform is designed for multi-chain support across Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain, aiming to connect traditional finance with decentralized finance (DeFi) through tokenized Real World Assets (RWAs) and stablecoin integration.

Token Utility

USD1 serves as WLFI's U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, providing a stable asset for transactions, DeFi integration, and cross-border payments within the ecosystem. While the project also has a $WLFI token, as of early June 2025, this governance token was not yet launched for public trading but is intended to power an on-chain governance system, allowing holders to propose and vote on protocol changes.

About the Founders

World Liberty Financial is strongly associated with and "inspired by the vision of President Donald J. Trump." DT Marks DEFI LLC, an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain of his family members, owns approximately 60% of WLF Holdco LLC, which holds the sole membership interest in World Liberty Financial, Inc. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are actively involved in management, with Donald Trump listed as "chief crypto advocate" and Barron Trump as "DeFi visionary." Co-founders include Zak Folkman, Chase Herro, and Zach Witkoff, who manage daily operations. The project has raised significant capital through private funding rounds, and the Trump family affiliates were allocated a substantial share of the governance tokens.

Risks of USD1

Like an investment in other crypto assets, there are some general risks to investing in USD1. These include:  (i) volatility risk and liquidity risk, (ii) short history risk, (iii) demand risk, (iv) forking risk, (v) code defects, (vi) regulatory risk, (vii) electronic trading risk, and (viii) cyber security risk. For additional information of these and other general risks associated with crypto assets and Uphold’s platform, please refer to the Risks Specific to Holding Digital Assets statement.

In addition to these general risks, an investment in USD1 is subject to the following specific risks:

USD1 operates using smart contracts, which have an association with vulnerabilities and security breaches. Despite undergoing successful audits by well-regarded third-party entities, it is essential to acknowledge the existence of inherent risks. 

We emphasize that this Crypto Asset Statement is not an exhaustive description or summary of all risks associated with USD1. Investors should conduct their own research and perform their own assessment before trading any crypto asset to determine the appropriate level of risk for their personal circumstances.

The USD1 community and the World Liberty Financial founding team are not under any legal or regulatory obligation to disclose material information to the public regarding its activities. Holders of USD1 have no recourse to the USD1 community, World Liberty Financial founding team, or Uphold if USD1 declines in value for any reason.

Changes to applicable law may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, or value of any of your crypto assets, and such changes may be sudden and without notice.

Uphold’s Evaluation Process

Prior to listing USD1 on the Uphold Platform, Uphold performed due diligence on USD1 and determined that USD1 is unlikely to be a security or derivative under relevant securities legislation. Uphold’s analysis including reviewing publicly available information on the following: 

The creation, governance, usage, and design of USD1, including ensuring the source code is open-source, audited and peer reviewed, security, and roadmap for growth in the developer community. 

The supply, demand, maturity, utility, and liquidity of USD1.

Any marketing materials put forward by the USD1 social team including on, Twitter, Medium blog, LinkedIn posts, Discord and Telegram channels.

Material technical risks associated with USD1, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning USD1 and its supporting blockchain (such as the susceptibility to hacking and impact of forking), or the practices and protocols that apply to them.

Legal and regulatory risks associated with USD1, including any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of USD1.