Political Ties Fuel $1.2M Airdrop, Propelling Trump-Linked Stablecoin to $2.9B Valuation

World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project aligned with U.S. President Donald Trump, has announced the distribution of 8.4 million WLFI governance tokens to early adopters of its USD1 stablecoin program. The airdrop, valued at approximately $1.2 million, aims to reward users who participated in the USD1 Points Program over the past two months by trading USD1 pairs or maintaining balances on partner exchanges, according to a CoinDesk report. The initiative has driven over $500 million in trading activity, elevating USD1 to the sixth-largest stablecoin by market capitalization at $2.94 billion, according to a Cointelegraph report.

The token distribution will occur across six centralized exchanges—Gate.io, KuCoin, LBank, HTX Global, Flipster, and MEXC—with each platform setting its own eligibility criteria and timelines, according to a Crypto.news report. World Liberty emphasized that the Points Program will continue to expand, incorporating new trading pairs, decentralized finance (DeFi) integrations, and real-world asset tokenizations, such as real estate and commodities, according to a Coinpedia report. The project also recently unveiled plans for a USD1-linked debit card compatible with Apple Pay, further embedding the stablecoin into everyday transactions, Crypto.news reported.

The WLFI token, currently trading at $0.14, has seen mixed performance, down nearly 70% from its September peak of $0.46 but rebounding 13% in recent trading sessions amid renewed political and market momentum, Coinpedia reported. Analysts attributed the recent price surge to Trump's pardon of Binance's Changpeng Zhao (CZ), which bolstered sentiment for Trump-aligned crypto assets, Coinpedia noted. Additionally, the token's 24-hour trading volume surged 170% to $437 million, signaling strong retail and institutional interest, Coinpedia added.

World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin, backed 1:1 by the U.S. dollar and custodied by BitGo, has gained traction among institutional investors. Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi's MGX firm used USD1 to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance, marking a significant institutional adoption milestone, Cointelegraph reported. Despite scrutiny over reserve attestations, the project continues to expand its ecosystem, with plans to tokenize assets and integrate with DeFi protocols, Crypto.news reported.

The airdrop underscores World Liberty's strategy to incentivize stablecoin adoption through loyalty programs. Community members praised the initiative for prioritizing "real users over hype," highlighting the USD1 Points Program's success in generating $500 million in volume within two months, Coinpedia reported. The company also announced a token buyback and burn plan to further support WLFI's value proposition, according to a Yahoo Finance report.

While the Trump-linked project faces regulatory and market challenges, its rapid growth reflects broader trends in crypto adoption and political influence over digital assets. With USD1's market cap surpassing $2.9 billion and WLFI's expanding utility, World Liberty appears poised to maintain its role as a key player in the stablecoin and governance token landscape, according to a Yahoo Finance article.