PALM BEACH, Fla. — Apex Group, a global financial services provider overseeing more than $3.5 trillion in assets, has partnered with the crypto company associated with US President Donald Trump, to pilot the use of a stablecoin in traditional fund operations, the companies announced at the World Liberty Forum in Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday.
The collaboration centers on WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin, which Apex will test as a payment rail for subscriptions, redemptions and distributions across its tokenized fund ecosystem, a press release said. Apex, which provides administrative and operational services to a broad client base that includes hedge funds, pension funds, banks and family offices, said the aim is to improve settlement speed and reduce operating costs for institutional clients.
Zach Witkoff, co-founder and CEO of World Liberty, called USD1 infrastructure a future financial services ecosystem during opening remarks at the forum.
The firm has been increasingly active in the digital asset space and has used blockchain to tokenize portions of the funds it services. Tokenizing funds or issuing shares on blockchain rails can help companies streamline reporting, lower fees and reach a wider investor base.
In May, Apex deepened its blockchain focus by acquiring Tokeny, a Luxembourg-based company known for building infrastructure to issue and manage real-world assets (RWAs) on-chain. It also acquired London-based Globacap, an investment platform with a US-registered broker-dealer, expanding Apex’s ability to tokenize regulated securities in the US, where interest in blockchain-based RWAs is growing among asset managers.
Apex CEO Peter Hughes said in a statement that customers “increasingly want blockchain-based solutions that deliver tangible benefits and cost savings.”
As part of the WLFI collaboration, Apex will also explore the availability of WLFI tokenized assets – such as real estate and infrastructure – on the London Stock Exchange Group’s (LSEG) Digital Market Infrastructure platform, subject to regulatory approval. WLFI said it plans to launch a mobile app that connects traditional bank accounts with digital asset wallets and gives users access to these tokenized holdings.
