World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the decentralized finance platform associated with the Trump family, has announced that its USD1 stablecoin will be issued natively on the Canton Network. The move positions USD1 as an institutional-grade digital dollar on Digital Asset’s privacy-enabled blockchain, which is designed for regulated financial applications rather than public permissionless chains such as Ethereum or Solana.
Canton Network offers selective data disclosure, scalability, and interoperability with existing financial systems, making it attractive to banks, asset managers, and regulated entities. By launching natively on Canton, WLFI is targeting a bridge between traditional finance and DeFi, with the global stablecoin market now exceeding $200 billion in circulation.
CEO Zach Witkoff defended the project against conflict-of-interest accusations, pointing to what he described as organic trading demand. Over a 24-hour period, USD1 recorded approximately $1.42 billion in trading volume, a market value of about $4.03 billion, and a turnover ratio above 35%. Witkoff said: 'USD1 grew because institutions trust how it operates, and confidence at enterprise scale deserves the backing of federal supervision.'
The debate has intensified after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued World Liberty Trust Co. preliminary conditional approval on August 14 to operate as a national trust bank. That approval allows the company to issue and redeem USD1 directly, hold reserves, and offer custody without relying on an external partner, although it cannot offer loans, credit cards, or federally insured deposits.
Critics argue that demand is linked to proximity to the White House. Georgetown’s James Angel said the rationale for holding USD1 is simply its proximity to the White House, while Senator Elizabeth Warren called the OCC decision 'the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen.' Warren and Representative Maxine Waters have asked the SEC to examine whether Trump’s financial ties affected World Liberty matters.
The stakes are substantial. DT Marks DEFI LLC, a venture linked to the Trump family, owns about 38% of the holding company controlling World Liberty Financial, and Trump family members hold 22.5 billion governance tokens. Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure revealed about $600 million in proceeds from World Liberty token and equity sales. The company denies conflicts of interest, saying Trump is not involved in management and none of its leaders are government employees.
For comparison, Tether’s USDT has roughly $183 billion in circulation and Circle’s USDC has more than $70 billion, while USD1 is around $4 billion, highlighting both its growth and the skepticism around its scale.
