World Liberty Enters $11B AI Payments Race
World Liberty Financial, a firm co-founded by Zak Folkman and linked to the Trump family, has announced plans to build infrastructure for its USD1 stablecoin to serve the AI economy. The initiative aims to enable autonomous software agents to execute financial transactions, positioning USD1 as a core payment tool for machine-to-machine commerce. This strategic pivot places the company in direct competition with established players like Stripe, Circle, and Coinbase, all of whom are developing similar payment rails. The agentic AI market is currently valued at $11 billion and is projected to drive $1.7 trillion in commerce by 2030, with enterprise adoption expected to climb from less than 1% to 33% by 2028.
USD1's $4.6B Foundation Supports Expansion
World Liberty Financial's ambitions are backed by the significant scale of its existing stablecoin. The USD1 currently holds a market capitalization of $4.6 billion and processed $1.477 billion in transaction volume in a single day, demonstrating substantial liquidity and market trust. The firm is simultaneously pursuing regulatory legitimacy and international growth to bolster its ecosystem. In January, it applied for a U.S. national trust bank charter to expand its stablecoin services under a federal framework. On the global front, an affiliate of World Liberty Financial signed a memorandum of understanding with Pakistan to explore using the USD1 stablecoin for cross-border remittances and other digital payments.
Governance Vote Secures 99.2% Approval
To strengthen its ecosystem, a recent governance proposal to enable staking for holders of the WLFI governance token received overwhelming community backing. The vote concluded with 99.2% approval, representing 903 million tokens in favor, against just 5.8 million opposed. The measure is designed to incentivize holder participation in the project's governance. While the vote signals strong internal support, some community members have raised concerns regarding the project's tokenomics, particularly the 80% of publicly sold tokens that remain locked. The project's leadership has also engaged in sharp rhetoric against traditional finance, with co-founder Eric Trump accusing major banks of being "anti-American" for blocking access to higher savings yields.
