Crypto observers were speculating on Monday that World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform backed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, might be testing its long-awaited dollar stablecoin before rolling out for the broader public.

Blockchain sleuths earlier today noted a flurry of activity with a token labeled as World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) on blockchain monitoring websites Etherscan and BscScan. Blockchain data shows that USD1 was deployed earlier this month on the Ethereum and BNB Chain networks and series of transactions with the token occurring over the past couple weeks.

Some transfers included addresses linked to Wintermute, a large digital asset trading firm and market maker, and crypto custodian BitGo, according to Arkham Intelligence data. The token’s supply currently stood at around 3.5 million-3.5 million on Ethereum and BNB Chain, per Etherscan and BscScan.

Changpeng CZ Zhao, founder of crypto exchange giant Binance, brought widespread attention to the token by «welcoming» the project on BNB Chain in a post with a screenshot of the USD1 BscScan profile shared with his 10 million followers. The post, he later said, triggered a wave of copy-cats aiming to capitalize on the new-found attention.

WLFI, reacting in a X post, said USD1 is not currently available for trading and crypto users should beware of scams.

Stablecoin buzz

WLFI, a project spearheaded by Zachary Folkman and Chase Herro, made a splash last year as one of the first crypto projects enjoying the backing of Trump. The protocol aims to provide a blockchain-based marketplace where users can borrow and lend cryptocurrencies, create liquidity pools and transact with stablecoins.

It’s been widely known that the project is working on crafting its own stablecoin, but there hasn’t been any official communication about exact plans and timing of launching the token publicly. CoinDesk has reached out to the team, but hasn’t received any replies.

Stablecoins are one of the fastest-growing corners of the crypto industry and widely regarded as the killer use case for blockchains. With their prices pegged to an external asset, predominantly to the U.S. dollar, they are widely used as a crypto trading pair and transactions on blockchain rails. They are also increasingly used for everyday payments, remittances and savings, attracting the attention of many venture capital investors.

Buzz around the asset class rejuvenated over the past months as the Trump administration elevated stablecoin regulation to the top of its crypto agenda. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that stablecoins have a key role in preserving the U.S. dollar’s global role as a reserve currency.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media (DJT), is looking to partner with crypto exchange Crypto.com to launch a series of exchange-traded products (ETPs) and funds (ETFs), the company said Monday.

The ETPs will include crypto assets and securities from other sectors such as the energy industry, the announcement said. Crypto.com will provide the backend technology, custody solutions, and crypto supply.

The investment vehicles are expected to launch in 2025, the press release said.

Trump Media is the company behind Truth Social, the social media platform frequently used by Trump.

This is only the latest of crypto initiatives backed by the President or his family. Trump and his entourage have issued multiple NFT collections and memecoins, not to mention their DeFi protocol, World Liberty Financial (WLFI).

The DJT stock is up more than 9% after-hours since the announcement.

Massachusetts’ top securities regulator has reportedly launched a probe into Robinhood over the popular trading platform’s recent decision to launch an in-app prediction markets hub that allows customers to bet on the outcome of events, including March Madness match-ups.

According to a Monday report from Reuters, Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin — a notoriously aggressive regulator — sent Robinhood a subpoena last week seeking information about the number of Robinhood’s users in Massachusetts that have requested to trade college sports events contracts, and seeking copies of Robinhood’s related marketing materials.

«This is just another gimmick from a company that’s very good at gimmicks to lure investors away from sound investing,» Galvin told Reuters. Galvin’s office confirmed the investigation to CoinDesk, and added that Robinhood’s response to the subpoena is due on April 3.

Robinhood’s prediction market, which is powered by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated Kalshi, launched on March 17 with March Madness-related event contracts, as well as another linked to the upper bound of the target fed funds rate in May. At the time of the launch, Robinhood told CoinDesk that it had been in communication with the CFTC “in recent weeks” leading up to the launch.

A spokesperson for Robinhood reiterated that the event contracts offered through its prediction markets hub were “regulated by the CFTC and offered through CFTC-registered entities.”

“Prediction markets have become increasingly relevant for retail and institutional investors alike, and we’re proud to be one of the first platforms to offer these products to retail customers in a safe and regulated manner,” the spokesperson added.

The trading platform previously attempted to launch its prediction markets hub in February, ahead of the Super Bowl, but delayed the launch at the request of the CFTC.