BitGo to custody reserves of World Liberty Financial’s USD1 

The forthcoming stablecoin was praised by BitGo’s Mike Bleshe as an advancement in “institutional-ready digital assets”

article-image

Jarretera/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Yesterday, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao praised “USD1” and posted, “Welcome to BNB Chain!”

Loading Tweet..

A couple of hours later, World Liberty Financial noted that USD1 is not “currently tradable,” and seemingly took ownership of the new stablecoin. 

Loading Tweet..

And, after a lot of speculation and even more texts sent out from yours truly, we finally have some answers this morning. USD1 will be minted on Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain blockchains, though the team isn’t ruling out future protocols, per a press release. 

“WLFI’s USD1 will be 100% backed by short-term US government treasuries, US dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents,” the release said.

BitGo will custody the USD1 reserves. In a statement, CEO Mike Belshe praised the stablecoin as an advancement in “institutional-ready digital assets.”

“USD1 provides what algorithmic and anonymous crypto projects cannot — access to the power of DeFi underpinned by the credibility and safeguards of the most respected names in traditional finance,” said Zach Witkoff, WLFI co-founder.

It’s still unclear from the press release what role Wintermute was playing, though it looked like it was potentially in the mix (per Etherscan). No word back from the Wintermute team yet, either.

WLFI just closed $550 million in token sales last week and, in an accompanying press release, said: “Over the last six months, WLFI has established key relationships with leading blockchain protocols and institutions including Ondo Finance, Ethena, Chainlink, Sui and Aave. These relationships have positioned WLFI to more rapidly build and deploy its upcoming platform, which is being purpose-built to democratize finance for millions.”

But the project hasn’t been without its criticism, with our very own Jack Kubinec reporting last month that it was courting other teams for token swaps. 

Now we’ll just have to see what’s next for WLFI. And the biggest question is: What players are involved?


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

The best capital markets are open to the most people — and crypto capital markets are open to everyone

article-image

Post-conference musings on Firedancer, Kraken, Solana Mobile and Trump

article-image

Executives expect others to follow SharpLink Gaming’s lead in purchasing an asset that has surged this past month

article-image

After a weekend of tariff policy shifts, investors appear confident that trade deals are underway

article-image

Multiple rounds of prior audits did not catch the flaw, the DEX said

article-image

StarkWare launches new consumer-grade hardware ZK prover