WLFI, the token linked to Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial, rose approx. 10% after the $3.5 trillion asset servicer said it would test the firm’s USD1 stablecoin as a settlement rail for tokenized funds.
WLFI’s rise in the Asian morning hours was higher than bitcoin or ether, which both fell 0.5%, according to CoinDesk market data.
The rally comes as speakers at the World Liberty Financial forum at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday said stablecoins were central to American financial leadership.
“The reality is that the entire financial system is going to look very different in the next five years than it has looked in the last 50 years,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said during the event. “This is going to happen somewhere. We’re going to see a massive amount of innovation in financial services. The question is, is it going to happen in America or somewhere else?”
Late. Moreno stressed that lawmakers must “get this market structure bill across the finish line within the next 90 days,” arguing that clear rules for digital assets are critical if the U.S. wants to lead the next phase of financial innovation rather than outsource it overseas.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also spoke about the importance of the market structure bill at the event, saying bank trading groups — not individual banks themselves — are responsible for the stalled progress.
World Liberty Financial co-founder Zak Folkman framed USD1 as more than a retail stablecoin, describing it as “an institutional-grade dollar” designed for real-world settlement and cross-border use.
“This is what we did when we wanted to build an institutional dollar,” Folkman said, adding that the token will contain “real-time proof of reserves, powered by Chainlink,” allowing users to verify backing on-chain.
Earlier in February at Consensus in Hong Kong, Folkman teased an upcoming World Liberty Forex platform.
On Wednesday, Folkman positioned USD1 as a bridge for global payments, saying the project would begin with the US-Mexico corridor before expanding to support up to 40 currencies. “This is USD1 as a settlement bridge,” he said.
Looking ahead, Folkman linked stablecoins’ use case to AI-powered trading.
“We are entering a world where AI agents will have to act autonomously,” he said. “AI agents can’t open bank accounts, they can’t sign checks, but they can hold stablecoins.”
“What we’re building is a complete financial system,” Folkman added.
