World Liberty’s Witkoff cites USD1 trading volume to rebut cronyism claims
- World Liberty Financial’s Zach Witkoff is citing USD1’s roughly $1.42 billion in daily trading volume as evidence of real market demand.
- The executive was countering critics who say the Trump-linked stablecoin exists mainly to curry favor with the president.
- The OCC conditionally approved a trust bank charter on August 14 that would let the family-connected venture issue USD1 directly.
Zach Witkoff, the CEO of World Liberty Financial, has cited USD1’s trading activity as evidence that the stablecoin is generating market demand.
Witkoff directed his comment as a response to critics who view USD1 as a tool to buy influence with the President of the United States. The debate has become more relevant even as federal regulators just issued out a bank charter to World Liberty Financial that will increase the influence of the President’s family in the company
Over a 24-hour period, USD1 has recorded around $1.42 billion in trading volume, with a market value of ~$4.03 billion and a turnover ratio greater than 35%.
Witkoff sees such trading activity as organic “USD1 grew because institutions trust how it operates, and confidence at enterprise scale deserves the backing of federal supervision,” he said, and says the company is open to scrutiny from federal regulators.
Why Trump’s WLFI is facing scrutiny
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued World Liberty Trust Co. preliminary conditional approval on August 14 to operate a national trust bank. This would allow the company to issue and redeem USD1 directly, hold the reserves backing USD1, and offer custody without depending on an external partner.
It’s not exactly a conventional bank as it can’t issue loans, credit cards, and federally insured deposits.
That approval succeeded in fueling the debate around the demand for USD1. World Liberty aims to “drive mainstream adoption of USD1,” and Donald Trump has praised the 2025 stablecoin law he signed for making possible the “widespread adoption of dollar-backed stablecoins.”
What the critics say about World Liberty’s numbers
Ethics watchdogs and academics have a different opinion. James Angel, who works as an associate professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, said that the rationale for anyone holding USD1 is simply its proximity to the White House.
The scale gap only adds to the skepticism. Tether has approximately $183 billion in circulation and Circle’s USDC over $70 billion, while USD1 hovers around $4 billion.
Regardless, Democrats have not held back. Senator Elizabeth Warren tagged the decision by the OCC as “the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen.”
Along with Representative Maxine Waters, Senator Warren has requested the SEC answer whether or not Trump’s financial ties affected the management of World Liberty matters.
The financial stake behind the dispute
The reason the question of demand is important is the amount of money involved. DT Marks DEFI LLC, a venture linked to the Trump family, owns approximately 38% of the holding company in control of World Liberty Financial, and members of the Trump family hold 22.5 billion of its governance tokens.
Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure revealed approximately $600 million in proceeds from World Liberty token and equity sales.
World Liberty refuses to accept the conflict of interest angle. They argue that Trump has nothing to do with the management of the company and none of its leaders or staff is a government employee.
A spokesperson for the company says the critics “are missing the point” because the firm is currently looking to follow regulations and necessary oversight rather than avoid them.
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FAQs
What is USD1 and who runs it?
USD1 is a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a venture connected to the Trump family and the family of special envoy Steve Witkoff; Zach Witkoff serves as president and chairman of the trust bank arm.
How large is USD1 compared with other stablecoins?
USD1 has around $4 billion in circulation, far behind Tether's roughly $183 billion and Circle's USDC at over $70 billion, according to figures cited by the Guardian and CoinMarketCap.
Why do critics call the World Liberty bank a conflict of interest?
An entity tied to Trump and his family owns about 38% of the company, the OCC that approved its charter is led by a Trump appointee, and experts and Democrats including Senator Elizabeth Warren argue depositors' main incentive is to gain favor with the president.
Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. We strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.
Hannah Collymore
Hannah is a writer and editor with nearly a decade of blog writing and event reporting experience in the crypto space. At Cryptopolitan, Hannah contributes to the news page, reporting and analyzing the latest developments in DeFi, RWA, crypto regulation, AI and frontier tech industries. She graduated from Arcadia university with a degree in Business Administration.
