World Liberty Plans to Bring USD1 Stablecoin to Major Online Businesses
BITmarkets Team
Oct 12, 2026
The announcement was made during a stablecoin-focused panel at Token2049 in Singapore, featuring WLFI CEO Zach Witkoff, co-founder Zak Folkman and Mesh co-founder and CEO Bam Azizi. During the discussion, Azizi announced that Mesh would integrate USD1 into its merchant payment network, allowing stablecoin holders to use the digital asset for purchases across participating businesses. The rollout is expected to begin this quarter.
WLFI plans USD1 expansion across major online businesses
“Beyond the use of the World Liberty app itself, we are already in plans to roll out this exact same technology to some of the largest Web2 businesses that are in the marketplace,” Folkman said. The partnership is intended to expand USD1's use beyond the World Liberty application by integrating stablecoin payments into existing online commerce infrastructure.
World Liberty Financial is a cryptocurrency venture backed by US President Donald Trump's family. Its USD1 stablecoin is designed to maintain a value of $1 and is currently issued by BitGo. The stablecoin is backed by reserves consisting of cash, US government money market funds and other cash equivalents. According to CoinGecko, USD1 had a market capitalization of approximately $4.45 billion at the time of reporting.
WLFI seeks to take control of USD1 issuance
Alongside its payment expansion plans, WLFI is pursuing greater control over the issuance and custody infrastructure supporting USD1. In August, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted conditional approval for WLFI to establish a national trust bank focused on issuing dollar-backed stablecoins and providing digital asset custody services.
According to Witkoff, the approval could eventually allow WLFI to assume direct responsibility for issuing USD1, a role currently handled by BitGo. “Today we’re issuing through BitGo,” he said. “With this trust charter, we’ll be able to take on that responsibility ourselves.” The move would represent a significant development in WLFI's operations by bringing stablecoin issuance under its own banking structure, subject to the necessary regulatory requirements.
Regulatory approval draws political scrutiny
The OCC's conditional approval has attracted criticism from US lawmakers, particularly Senator Elizabeth Warren, who raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest stemming from the Trump family's involvement with WLFI. Warren and other senators subsequently introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act in response to those concerns.
The OCC defended its review process, stating that its leadership and staff had acted in accordance with their statutory responsibilities and ethical obligations when evaluating the application. Speaking at Token2049, Witkoff characterized the conditional approval as an achievement secured “in spite of some of the attacks against us,” referring to criticism from politicians and mainstream media outlets.
Sources:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-backed-wlfi-plans-usd1-payments-for-online-businesses
