World Liberty Financial has launched its $4.05 billion USD1 stablecoin natively on the Canton Network, giving institutions a dollar-based settlement asset for tokenized securities and other real-world assets.
Summary
- USD1 can settle tokenized assets through Canton’s privacy and permissioning controls.
- Institutions can use the stablecoin for collateral, lending, issuance, redemptions, and cross-border payments.
- DeFiLlama ranks the $4.05 billion USD1 as the sixth-largest stablecoin.
- World Liberty’s proposed U.S. trust bank still requires final OCC authorization.
USD1 gives Canton transactions a cash settlement option
World Liberty Financial said in an Aug. 25 announcement that USD1 is now issued directly on Canton rather than arriving through a bridge from another blockchain.
Native issuance lets an institution exchange USD1 and a tokenized asset as parts of the same transaction. According to the announcement, Canton’s system synchronizes both transfers so the cash and asset can settle together, reducing the risk that one side completes while the other remains outstanding.
Canton applies privacy and permission controls to transactions conducted on its public blockchain. The network says the system allows participating firms to control which parties can view transaction information while supporting the compliance requirements used in regulated financial markets.
Through the integration, World Liberty said institutions can use USD1 to provide collateral for derivatives and institutional loans. The stablecoin can also fund asset issuances, process redemptions, support financing arrangements and settle cross-border payments around the clock.
Tokenized government debt and other financial assets often require a corresponding cash payment when they change hands. World Liberty said adding USD1 gives Canton users a fully reserved dollar stablecoin for that cash side without moving the transaction through a separate payment network.
According to World Liberty, USD1 is redeemable for U.S. dollars on a one-to-one basis. The company says its reserves include dollar deposits, U.S. government money market funds, and other cash equivalents, with reserve reports published monthly.
USD1 enters a network built around institutional assets
Canton said more than $9 trillion in tokenized assets are issued or processed through its network each month. The company also reported that more than $350 billion in onchain U.S. Treasurys moves across Canton daily, although the figures represent activity rather than the total value locked on the blockchain.
Government debt on Canton is used as collateral, repurchase agreements, and treasury-management transactions, according to the USD1 announcement. In such trades, delays between the transfer of an asset and the related payment can tie up capital or require financial institutions to retain additional liquidity.
Canton’s synchronized settlement design allows the asset and payment to move at the same time. Native USD1 can now serve as the dollar-denominated payment in those transactions while remaining subject to the network’s privacy settings.
An earlier institutional transaction showed how the structure works with another stablecoin. Tradeweb said in July that Franklin Templeton transferred a tokenized U.S. Treasury security to Virtu Financial in exchange for USDCx, with Canton synchronizing the two sides in real time.
World Liberty and Canton initially disclosed plans for the USD1 deployment in December 2025, when the stablecoin had a market capitalization of more than $2 billion. At the time, the companies identified intraday repo and digital bond settlement among the intended uses.
USD1’s market value has since reached approximately $4.05 billion, according to DeFiLlama stablecoin data, placing it sixth among dollar-pegged tokens by capitalization. Stablecoin supply can increase when authorized parties mint new tokens and decline when holders redeem them.
In March 2025, World Liberty introduced USD1 as a dollar-backed token for institutional and retail transactions. BitGo Bank & Trust currently issues the stablecoin, manages its reserve assets, and processes minting and redemption requests on the company’s behalf.
World Liberty’s USD1 growth faces U.S. scrutiny
The Canton deployment adds another institutional use for USD1 one day after crypto.news reported its $4 billion growth. World Liberty CEO Zach Witkoff attributed the increase to institutional demand and rejected claims that the company’s relationship with the Trump family accounted for the stablecoin’s adoption.
A $2 billion transaction has formed a large part of USD1’s early use. In May 2025, Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm MGX used the stablecoin to settle its investment in Binance after initially announcing the deal without identifying the settlement asset.
World Liberty’s connections to President Donald Trump and the involvement of a foreign state-backed investor have drawn questions from Democratic lawmakers. Public disclosures cited in previous coverage show that an entity affiliated with Trump and members of his family holds an interest in World Liberty’s parent company.
For U.S. institutions considering USD1, federal oversight of its issuer remains an important procedural issue. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company conditional charter approval on Aug. 14, allowing the company to proceed with organizing a national trust bank.
The OCC’s decision does not allow the proposed bank to begin operating. According to the regulator’s approval, World Liberty Trust must maintain at least $20 million in eligible capital, appoint a qualified internal audit manager, and complete other preopening requirements before receiving final authorization.
If the OCC issues that authorization, the trust company plans to take over USD1 issuance, redemption, and reserve management from BitGo. The proposed institution would also provide digital-asset custody and stablecoin conversion services to institutional clients under federal supervision.
Unlike a conventional commercial bank, World Liberty Trust would not accept ordinary deposits or make standard loans. National trust banks generally concentrate on custody, fiduciary, settlement, and asset-servicing activities, and the OCC can change, suspend, or withdraw its preliminary approval before the institution opens.
Canton is also preparing a U.S. benefits pilot
Digital Asset, the company behind Canton, has also expanded the network’s proposed role in U.S. public-sector payments. In August, Digital Asset and former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Idea Foundation unveiled a benefits pilot scheduled to begin in three states during the first quarter of 2027, subject to federal approval.
Called Resources for Independence, Stability, and Employment, the program would combine separate benefits into monthly or twice-monthly payments. The organizations said Canton would apply rules covering approved spending categories while restricting access to recipients’ sensitive information.
Program administrators would also be able to adjust payments automatically when a recipient’s reported income changes, according to the announcement. Digital Asset and the foundation have not identified the participating states or disclosed which benefit programs will enter the pilot.
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