Recently, I seriously finished watching the exclusive interview with @worldlibertyfi (#WLFI) founder and COO Zack Folkman, which mainly discussed the USD1 stablecoin, industry trends, company layout, community, and regulation. It was quite comprehensive.
I have been paying attention myself, and combining the key points from the interview, along with the actual progress I have seen recently, I have organized the content in more detail and added a few practical functional details. I hope to provide some useful information for everyone, so why not take a look together:
1. Why the dollar upgrade and stablecoins can continue in the long term
Zach also mentioned in the interview that the US dollar hasn't been upgraded much in over a hundred years, typically being either paper currency or just a string of numbers in a bank account.
In the future, stablecoins, especially compliant institutional-grade stablecoins, are likely to become the default currency for transactions between AI entities.
I feel the same way—ordinary people do not want to become 'crypto-native users'. Remembering mnemonic phrases, calculating gas fees, manually signing transactions—all these operations are too cumbersome. Only by hiding the encryption technology and seamlessly integrating it into daily life without additional learning can cryptocurrency truly enter the lives of ordinary people.
He also discussed the differences between Eastern and Western crypto ecosystems: in Asia, especially Hong Kong, traditional financial institutions are entering the crypto space faster than in Europe and America, but retail enthusiasm is not as high as during the bull market in 2020.
Industry hotspots change quickly. Last year, everyone was talking about RWA (Real World Assets on-chain), but this year in Hong Kong, everyone is discussing AI + stablecoins, and the focus has become particularly clear. After all, it feels like everyone is now playing with AI.
II. Some core data and advantages of USD1
USD1 is the flagship stablecoin of WLFI. As everyone knows, its market value has already surpassed 4 billion USD, approaching 4.5 billion USD, making it relatively sizable among stablecoins.
It follows a compliant route, with strict KYC (real-name authentication) and AML (anti-money laundering) processes. The loss in converting fiat to stablecoins is very low, only 5-15 basis points, which is significantly lower than the industry average, so many institutions are willing to use it.
WLFI's strategic layout is very clear: first issue the WLFI governance token to lay the foundation, and then use USD1 as a bridge to connect traditional finance, DeFi, and the cryptocurrency market.
They also hosted the World Freedom Forum, inviting traditional financial giants like the CEO of Goldman Sachs and the president of the NYSE. It is evident that many giants have already started laying out blockchain plans. Their goal is not to overthrow traditional finance but to transform it, making it more convenient for global users.
III. New features coming soon and potential future applications
The interview specifically mentioned that they are developing a payment APP similar to Cash App and Venmo, supporting global transfers and being cheaper, faster, and more transparent than some current applications.
The core is to directly connect users' debit cards and traditional banks, hiding complex operations like mnemonic phrases, gas fees, and transaction signatures, allowing ordinary people to use it normally without needing to understand cryptocurrency.
If this step can be successfully implemented, the threshold for ordinary people to use stablecoins will be significantly lower.
Future implementation scenarios are also very specific:
A special fund for USD1 will be launched;
Deepen C-end payments, such as transfers among friends and family, which can be used for daily spending;
It will also be deeply integrated with AI, connecting to mainstream AI platforms like Claude, allowing AI entities to make payments directly with USD1, expanding new scenarios for AI payments.
IV. Recently added practical features, let me explain in detail
I believe everyone can see that USD1 is not just about issuing a coin. It has been continuously working and implementing new features. Recently, several updates have significantly enhanced its use cases and practicality. Let me mention a few specifics:
Binance Wallet perpetual contract support: USD1 has already been integrated with Binance Wallet perpetual contracts, allowing direct trading of perpetual contracts for BTC, ETH, SOL, and others, with very friendly transaction fees—no cost for placing orders, only 0.5bps for market orders.
Additionally, participating in Aster's WLFI incentive program, you can earn up to 2.5 million WLFI tokens as rewards each month, distributed weekly. Eligible USD1 holders also receive extra monthly incentives, and USD1 can be used as collateral.
Many friends in the Chinese community have mentioned that by placing USD1 into spot, funds, leverage, or contract accounts on Binance, the annualized yield can stabilize around 8%. If combined with leverage and other activities, the yield can be even higher.
Currently, this activity continues until April 17. In today's market, it is considered a relatively stable choice.
BitGo's institutional-grade custody has landed: BitGo's new Mint platform supported USD1 on its first day of launch. Institutional clients can now complete the minting, redemption, and management of USD1 in a single custodial system, which previously required integrating multiple external providers and was particularly troublesome. Now the process has been greatly simplified.
The platform also offers strategy custody, compliance reporting, and institutional-level services suitable for large-scale high-frequency operations, which represent a substantial improvement for large funds.
Morpho DeFi vault launched: The first USD1 vault on Morpho has opened on the Monad chain, supported by collateral from Reservoir and organized by Steakhouse.
As long as users cross-chain USD1 to Monad through LayerZero and deposit it into the vault, they can earn yields through lending, with a net annualized yield currently around 'approximately 12%-13%' (subject to fluctuations). While the yield is not particularly high, it is a very practical entry point for DeFi for stablecoins.
MEXC multi-product integration: MEXC not only launched trading pairs for USD1 but also integrated it into Launchpool, financial contract collateral, and several other products, covering approximately 40 million users, giving more ordinary people an additional stablecoin option.
Significant growth on the Solana chain: In the past two months, the supply of USD1 on Solana has increased fivefold, currently around 855 million USD, with daily trading volume stabilizing between 200-300 million USD. Additionally, it has partnered with core projects on Solana like Kamino, BonkFun, and Raydium, making the ecosystem increasingly active.
AgentPay SDK payment infrastructure: The AgentPay SDK, aimed at the Agent economy, has officially launched.
Now AI agents can make payments to x402 and MPP endpoints with just one command, and have added EIP-3009 signature support and Tempo mainnet support, ensuring operator control and security during payments.
The application scenarios have expanded from simple transfers to paid APIs, paid data, and native HTTP Agent workflows. It is evident that they are preparing for the future of AI + DeFi.
In addition, they collaborated with @PerleLabs to directly distribute rewards for the PerleAI Voice Campaign using USD1, allowing creators to receive stablecoins without worrying about price volatility, making it quite practical.
Overall, USD1 has gradually expanded from a single stablecoin into areas such as perpetual trading, institutional custody, DeFi yields, retail payments, and AI infrastructure. Both ordinary people and institutions can find suitable uses.
V. Characteristics of the community and ecosystem
The interview particularly emphasized that USD1 is one of the few stablecoins with strong community support, unlike USDT and USDC, which have almost no community atmosphere.
This project did not reduce its budget during the bear market; instead, it continued to increase its efforts, rewarding loyal users and long-term holders. For example, Sahara AI raised 70 million USD, with 55 million USD of that completed using USD1, which is a great example.
In the Chinese area, Sister Jia @mscryptojiayi and the project team have made significant contributions, always valuing community feedback and taking care of user experience. I have been following this project for so long and find this particularly rare, which adds warmth to the entire ecosystem and increases user stickiness.
VI. My views
Overall, WLFI started with USD1 stablecoin and gradually connected trading, payments, yields, and AI infrastructure, slowly forming a combination of 'stablecoin + governance token + payment tool + asset on-chain'.
In terms of regulation, the US GENIUS Act has clearly defined the rules for stablecoin issuance and operation for the first time, and Hong Kong is also advancing stablecoin licensing. The overall environment is favorable for compliant projects.
The crypto industry inherently has cycles. During calm market periods, it is actually the best time to focus on doing real work. From my observation, the project team and the community (including the Chinese community) are progressing steadily and not being impulsive. Many friends recently have seen a significant portion of their income from USD1 investments.
In the long run, if it can truly make it convenient for ordinary people and AI entities to use, it will be a positive signal for the entire stablecoin sector. I will continue to pay close attention, especially to the progress of the retail payment APP and more AI-related implementations.
If you are also interested in stablecoins or the WLFI ecosystem, feel free to share your recent observations. Everyone should stay rational and look at it from a long-term perspective; it might yield more rewards!
Alright, that's all for today. Thank you all for reading!#USD1