WLFI surges 10% after Apex stablecoin deal, outperforming BTC and ETH

WLFI, the token tied to Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial, rose roughly 10% after a $3.5 trillion asset servicer said it would test the firm’s USD1 stablecoin as a settlement rail for tokenized funds.

WLFI's uptick during the Asia morning hours was higher than bitcoin or ether, which were both down 0.5%, according to CoinDesk market data.

The rally comes as speakers at the World Liberty Financial forum at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday pitched stablecoins as central to U.S. financial leadership.

“The reality is the entire financial system is going to look very different in the next five years than it has looked in the last 50 years,” Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said during the event. “This will happen somewhere. We’re going to see a massive amount of innovation in financial services. The question is, will it happen in America or somewhere else?”

Sen. Moreno emphasized that lawmakers must “get this market structure bill across the finish line in the next 90 days,” arguing that clear rules for digital assets are critical if the U.S. wants to lead the next phase of financial innovation rather than cede it overseas.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also spoke about the importance of the market structure bill at the event and said banking trade groups – not individual banks themselves – are responsible for the stalled progress.

World Liberty Financial co-founder Zak Folkman framed USD1 as more than a retail stablecoin, describing it as “an institutional-grade dollar” designed for real-world settlement and cross-border use.

“This is what we did when we wanted to build an institutional-grade dollar,” Folkman said, adding that the token will feature “real-time proof of reserves, powered by Chainlink,” allowing users to verify backing on-chain.

Earlier in February at Consensus in Hong Kong, Folkman teased an upcoming World Liberty Forex platform.

On Wednesday, Folkman positioned USD1 as a bridge for global payments, saying the project would begin with the U.S.-Mexico corridor before expanding to support up to 40 currencies. “This is USD1 as a settlement bridge,” he said.

Looking ahead, Folkman tied the stablecoin’s use case to artificial intelligence-driven commerce.

“We’re entering a world where AI agents will need to transact autonomously,” he said. “AI agents can’t open bank accounts, they can’t sign checks, but they can hold stablecoins.”

“What we’re building is a complete financial system,” Folkman added.