WLFI, the token linked to World Liberty Financial, climbed about 10% during Asian trading hours after Apex Group said it will test the firm’s USD1 stablecoin for fund settlement. The move outpaced Bitcoin and Ether, which both slipped 0.5%, according to CoinDesk data. The rally followed announcements at a World Liberty Financial forum at Mar-a-Lago, where speakers promoted stablecoins as central to U.S. financial leadership.
Apex Group, which says it services more than $3.5 trillion in assets, plans to collaborate with World Liberty Financial to pilot USD1 within traditional fund workflows. The firm will test whether USD1 can move money tied to tokenized funds faster than bank rails.
The pilot will focus on investor subscriptions and redemptions linked to tokenized funds. Apex aims to measure whether USD1 can reduce settlement delays and lower operational costs. The test centers on real-time digital transfers instead of multi-day banking processes.
USD1 ranks as the fifth-largest dollar-pegged stablecoin by market capitalization, with more than $5 billion in circulation. World Liberty co-founder Zak Folkman described USD1 as an institutional-grade dollar built for real-world settlement and cross-border use.
Folkman said USD1 will feature real-time proof-of-reserves powered by Chainlink. Users will verify backing on-chain through that system. Earlier in February, at Consensus in Hong Kong, he also previewed a forthcoming World Liberty Forex platform.
Donald Trump Jr. said the collaboration creates efficiencies that did not exist before. He added that transactions can settle in seconds rather than days through traditional rails.
At the Mar-a-Lago forum, speakers tied stablecoin growth to U.S. regulatory policy. Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio said the financial system will look different within five years compared with the past five decades. He said innovation in financial services will expand rapidly.
Moreno urged lawmakers to pass a market structure bill within 90 days. He argued that clear digital asset rules remain critical if the United States wants to lead rather than shift innovation overseas. He framed the issue as a race for financial leadership.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also addressed the stalled bill. He said banking trade groups, not individual banks, have slowed progress. The discussion focused on regulatory clarity for digital assets and stablecoins.
At the same event, Eric Trump told CNBC that crypto adoption remains at the “one-yard line.” He said major financial institutions that once avoided the sector now offer crypto exposure and integrate digital assets into their strategies.
Against that backdrop, WLFI outperformed larger cryptocurrencies during Asian hours. CoinDesk data showed Bitcoin and Ether both down 0.5%, while WLFI rose roughly 10%.
The announcements arrived amid ongoing scrutiny in Washington. Earlier this month, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to determine whether a reported UAE-linked investment in World Liberty should face review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
World Liberty said neither former President Donald Trump nor other affiliated figures participated in the foreign investment transaction. The company continues to position USD1 as a dollar-backed stablecoin targeting institutional adoption.
Folkman said the project will begin with the US-Mexico corridor and then expand to support up to 40 currencies. He described USD1 as a settlement bridge for global payments.
He also linked the stablecoin’s future to artificial intelligence-driven commerce. He said AI agents will need to transact autonomously and cannot open bank accounts or sign checks, but they can hold stablecoins.
Folkman added that World Liberty aims to build a complete financial system around USD1. As regulatory debates continue and institutional pilots move forward, one question remains: will the United States secure leadership in digital finance or allow it to shift elsewhere?
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WLFI rose by about 10% after Apex Group said it would pilot the USD1 stablecoin for tokenized fund settlement. Speakers at Mar-a-Lago pushed for stablecoins and urged passage of a market-structure bill within 90 days. World Liberty framed USD1 as institutional grade with Chainlink proof of reserves.