White House UFC Event Pays $250K in Trump-Backed USD1 as WLFI Price Surges

A White House UFC event has given one of crypto’s newest stablecoins its highest-profile use case yet. Fighters competing at UFC Freedom 250 received performance bonuses paid in USD1, the stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture backed by President Donald Trump’s family.

USD1 takes center stage at White House UFC event

World Liberty Financial served as the presenting partners of a $250,000 performance bonus pool awarded during UFC Freedom 250. The event took place on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14, with bonus payouts distributed in the USD1 stablecoin.

The event coincided with US President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and drew sponsorships from digital asset exchange Crypto.com. Dubbed the “most historic sporting event of all time” by promoters, UFC Freedom 250 commemorates the 250th anniversary of the United States gaining Independence.

For USD1, the promotion represents one of the most prominent real-world deployments of the stablecoin since its launch. While stablecoins are now a mainstay across crypto exchanges and DeFi platforms since the passing of the GENIUS Act into law, their use in a nationally televised sporting event hosted at the White House is a rarity. 

Source: A16Z

“World Liberty Finance is proud to serve as a presenting sponsor for the UFC Freedom 250 event,” said Zach Witkoff, co-founder and CEO of World Liberty Finance.WLFI, the native token of World Liberty Financial, recorded an uptick within hours of the mixed-martial-arts events. 

At press time, WLFI has surged by nearly 5% over the last day, with daily trading volumes climbing to $49.18 million.

Stablecoin growth continues despite controversies

The White House event comes months after World Liberty Financial faced scrutiny over its activity in DeFi markets. Back in April, WLFI borrowed over $75 million in stablecoins from a DeFi lending protocol whose founder served as an advisor to the Trump-backed company.

At the time, World Liberty Financial used its WLFI tokens as collateral and also deposited USD1 as part of the arrangement. The move effectively locked out retail investors from the pool, preventing them from withdrawing until the loans were fully repaid.

Meanwhile, World Liberty has fallen out with Justin Sun, an early investor in the project. Sun sued the Trump-backed project for freezing his holdings without due process, while WLFI countersued the Tron founder for defamation.

Despite the controversies surrounding WLFI, the USD1 stablecoin is growing by leaps and bounds. At the start of the year, USD1’s circulating supply stood at $3.3 billion, with the stablecoin growing by 33% in under six months to reach a $4.41 billion market capitalization. 

In the last 24 hours, USD1 has racked up a daily transaction volume of $1.62 billion, a 20% spike over the last day. Amid the meteoric growth, WLFI has thrown its hat in the ring for a banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a move tipped to grow USD1’s utility.