World Liberty Financial stablecoin backs UFC fighter bonuses at White House event

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Highlights

UFC will pay up to $250,000 in fighter bonuses at the White House event using World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin, which rose above $1 with trading volume surging 93% to $2.38 billion.
World Liberty, founded in 2024 by Trump family members, faces political criticism and conflict-of-interest scrutiny as Trump holds over $50 million in company assets, according to January 2025 disclosures.
World Liberty confronts ongoing legal battles, including mutual lawsuits with Tron founder Justin Sun over token freezing and destruction allegations initiated in April.

Bonus plan and token market reaction

As reported by Cointelegraph, World Liberty confirmed on Monday that UFC would pay up to $250,000 in fighter bonuses using USD1, the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by the company. UFC had previously made a similar announcement ahead of the event.

CoinMarketCap data show USD1 rose above $1 on June 12 and remains there at last look. Trading volume over the past 24 hours is up more than 93% to $2.38 billion, after the stablecoin traded below $1 for most of the past month.

The "UFC Freedom 250" event is held on the south lawn of the White House as part of activities tied to the country’s semiquincentennial. Other sponsors include prediction markets company Polymarket and crypto exchange Crypto.com, which says it will offer $1 million in fighter bonuses using its Cronos, CRO, token.

Political scrutiny and legal pressure

World Liberty, launched in 2024 by members of the Trump family and others later linked to the administration, remains under scrutiny over corruption and conflict-of-interest claims involving the president. In May 2025, a UAE company said it planned to use USD1 to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance, while World Liberty also has a national trust charter application pending with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Trump’s financial disclosures filed in January 2025 list his holdings in World Liberty at more than $50 million. Jaelin O’Halloran, spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, says the UFC bonus plan shows Trump continues to use the presidency to enrich himself and his family, while White House spokesperson Davis Ingle tells Cointelegraph there are no conflicts of interest because Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children.

World Liberty also faces legal action from Tron founder Justin Sun. In April, Sun filed a lawsuit alleging the company froze his tokens and threatened to destroy them without proper justification, and World Liberty countersued him weeks later.

We previously reported on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s claim that the Trump White House pushed the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate him and his wife for political reasons. The article noted Newsom’s argument that no wrongdoing has been found and framed the dispute as part of rising tensions heading into the 2028 presidential backdrop.

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