World Liberty Financial (WLFI) Recent Developments
Governance Controversy Over Treasury Allocation
Locked WLFI holders protested treasury allocation favoring USD1 over investor unlocks on January 20, 2026, marking a significant governance dispute within the ecosystem. The controversy highlights tensions between the project's expansion strategy and token holder interests.
Pakistan Digital Finance Partnership
World Liberty Financial signed a memorandum of understanding on January 20, 2026 to integrate USD1 into Pakistan's cross-border transactions. The key question remains whether Pakistan's central bank will formally endorse USD1, potentially unlocking a 230 million-person market.
DeFi Lending Platform Launch
World Liberty Markets, a borrowing and lending platform using USD1 stablecoin and multiple collateral assets, launched on January 12, 2026. Supported collateral on the platform includes the WLFI governance token, ETH, coinbase wrapped bitcoin (cbBTC), USDC and USDT. Early lending rates show USD1 borrowing at about 0.83% and lending yields near 0.08%, though liquidity remains thin.
Real-World Asset Suite Expansion
World Liberty Financial launched a Real-World Asset (RWA) Suite in January 2026, tokenizing commodities and debt instruments powered by USD1. A debit card and retail app enabling USD1 spending via Apple Pay and peer-to-peer transfers are planned for Q1 2026.
Banking License Application
In January 2026, World Liberty Trust, a trust company owned by WLF and with Zach Witkoff as its president and chairman, applied for a national banking license in the U.S. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) declined Senator Elizabeth Warren's request to pause World Liberty Financial's application for a national trust bank charter, with OCC official Jonathan Gould stating the review would proceed under standard regulatory criteria.
Market Performance
Current WLFI trading data shows the token at $0.158, with a 1-hour price change of +0.12%, a 24-hour decline of -5.31%, and a 7-day decline of -4.18%. The token maintains a market capitalization of approximately $4.3 billion and ranks #30 by market cap.
Binance Incentive Program
Binance initiated a four-week campaign distributing $40 million worth of WLFI tokens to users holding USD1 across Spot, Margin, and Futures accounts, designed to boost ecosystem participation and USD1 adoption.
Sources:
- https://coinmarketcap.com/cmc-ai/world-liberty-financial-wlfi/latest-updates/
- https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/01/12/world-liberty-financial-rolls-out-lending-platform-for-its-usd1-stablecoin
- https://crypto.news/world-liberty-financial-lending-market-dolomite-2026/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Liberty_Financial
- https://coinmarketcap.com/cmc-ai/usd1/latest-updates/