Original | Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )
Author | Ethan ( @ethanzhang_web3 )
Recently, community member INVESTYOFFICIAL tweeted that the DeFi project WLFI, supported by the Trump family, has allegedly issued stablecoin USD1 on Ethereum and BNB Chain , and is currently conducting multiple functional tests. The well-known market maker Wintermute is also suspected to be involved. At present, WLFI officials have not confirmed the news.
Binance founder CZ retweeted and said that the USD1 smart contract was deployed on BNB Chain 20 days ago. CZ also reminded that many fake tokens with the same name as USD 1 have been created. The official USD 1 launched by WLFI is not yet available for trading. Please do not be fooled.
CZ Tweets
Bscscan on-chain data shows that the current USD 1 beta version has been issued 3.5 million pieces, with a total of 6 holders, one of whom is Wintermute; Wintermute has also participated in transfer tests many times in the past 20 days. On-chain address:
https://bscscan.com/token/0x8d0d000ee44948fc98c9b98a4fa4921476f08b0d
https://etherscan.io/token/0x8d0d000ee44948fc98c9b98a4fa4921476f08b0d
Multiple motivations: WLFI enters the stablecoin market
Overall, WLFI’s entry into the stablecoin market may be based on the following four considerations.
1. Strengthen the hegemony of the US dollar. WLFI has made it clear that one of its missions is to promote the widespread adoption of dollar-pegged stablecoins, thereby maintaining the United States dominant position in the global financial system. By issuing USD1 , WLFI intends to consolidate the position of the US dollar in the DeFi field and form differentiated competition with competitors such as Tether and USDC.
In addition, the opening of stablecoins at the policy level has also opened the door for WLFI to enter the stablecoin market. At the White House Crypto Summit on March 8, Trump also emphasized that he hopes to promote stablecoin legislation and plans to complete it before the August congressional recess. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the meeting: We will think deeply about the stablecoin system. As President Trump has instructed, the United States will maintain its position as the worlds leading reserve currency and use stablecoins to achieve this goal.
Second, seize the growth opportunities in the stablecoin market. With the stablecoin market value rapidly exceeding $200 billion in recent years and expected to double to more than $400 billion in 2025, the market prospects are very attractive. Tether disclosed in its fourth quarter report in 2024 that its full-year net profit was as high as $13 billion, which also reflects the profit potential of stablecoins holding assets such as government bonds.
Data from coinglass
On the other hand, despite WLFIs huge marketing momentum, its actual situation is not optimistic. Although WLFI has completed a total of $550 million in token sales and subsequently invested about $343 million in a variety of tokens, the overall book still has a floating loss of about $109 million, with a loss rate of one-third. This undoubtedly casts a shadow on the future development of the project. Therefore, WLFI may take advantage of the opportunity to develop stablecoins to achieve the dual goals of revenue and ecological expansion.
Image from ARKHAM
3. Building the core pillar of the DeFi ecosystem. As a DeFi project that builds a lending platform based on the Aave V3 protocol, WLFI is well aware of the indispensable role of stablecoins in the ecosystem. Issuing its own stablecoins can not only enhance the platforms trading and lending capabilities, but also provide more application scenarios for WLFI governance tokens. Some analysts even predict that WLFI may use stablecoins to support its asset reserve strategy in the future, and combine them with real-world assets (RWA) to further expand the scale of issuance.
Fourth, work with Wintermute to jointly utilize the market influence of the Trump family. The close connection with the Trump family undoubtedly adds a unique competitive advantage to WLFI. With the effect of the family brand, WLFI is expected to attract more investors and users, forming a unique positioning different from traditional stablecoin projects.
At the same time, Wintermute has announced plans to expand into the US market earlier, and this USD1 test deployment may be an important opportunity for it to enter the US market. After receiving the signal of recognition from the highest power in the United States, how to seize this golden moment will be the key to Wintermutes subsequent actions. Facing the global stablecoin market with more than US$200 billion in assets, it still takes time to verify what advantages WLFI has to break through the siege.
Opinion: Opportunities and risks coexist
The author believes that although WLFI’s issuance of USD1 shows great ambition, the risks cannot be ignored.
The Trump family has always been good at marketing, and this move may attract market attention in the short term; however, in the face of fierce competition and increasingly stringent regulatory policies (such as MiCAs restrictions on Tether), there are still many uncertainties as to whether WLFI can achieve long-term stable development. At the same time, although Wintermutes joining will help ensure liquidity, it may also make WLFI a victim of big money games.
Whether WLFIs USD1 is a new outlet in the DeFi field or another gamble by the Trump family in the field of digital assets, its future direction deserves continued attention from the market. Only time will tell whether WLFI can stand out with its own advantages in this fiercely competitive stablecoin market.
