Trump’s New Crypto Project Aims For US Dollar-Backed Stablecoin Launch

World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture launched by former President Donald Trump, is reportedly planning to develop its own stablecoin intended to serve as a stand-in for the US dollar. 

World Liberty’s Stablecoin Ambitions

According to a Fortune report, the World Liberty team is currently focused on ensuring the financial product’s safety before its market introduction. 

This entails navigating a landscape filled with regulatory uncertainties and legal challenges, which can be daunting, especially when competing against established players like Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC stablecoins.

Earlier this month, World Liberty announced the hiring of Rich Teo, co-founder of Paxos – stablecoin issuer responsible for the US dollar-backed Paxos Standard Token (PAX) – to lead its stablecoin and payments initiatives, in line with recently unveiled plans for the Trump project. 

Trump’s Crypto Project Challenges Ahead Of Stablecoin Launch

Historically, some protocols have attempted to sidestep traditional collateralization methods using various crypto innovations, but these efforts have often ended in failure. 

Fortune highlights a notable example of these challenges with the collapse of Terraform Labs in 2022, which resulted in significant financial losses across the market and increased legal scrutiny from authorities around the world for its founder, Do Kwon, who is currently awaiting possible extradition from Montenegro to the US.

Despite these challenges, the report notes that there is considerable profit potential if Trump’s World Liberty can successfully launch its stablecoin. Tether’s USDT, for example, reported a substantial profit of $5.2 billion in the first half of 2024 alone, highlighting the lucrative nature of this market segment.

In a bid to secure funding for its initiatives, the Trump family venture recently whitelisted over 100,000 accredited investors, aiming to raise $300 million during its initial sale. However, it has fallen significantly short of that target, managing to raise only $14 million and selling a mere 4.7% of the available tokens.

Featured image from Business Insider, chart from TradingView.com