Targeting the Forex market! WLFI launches the World Swap cross-border transfer matrix, with USD1 as the settlement core.

Supported by the family of U.S. President Donald Trump, the decentralized finance project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is sparking an ecosystem expansion around the stablecoin USD1. Following the rapid launch of the lending platform World Liberty Markets last month, WLFI co-founder Zak Folkman officially announced at the Consensus Hong Kong conference this week: the upcoming launch of “World Swap,” a foreign exchange and cross-border transfer platform.

This is not just another product iteration for WLFI but a strategic move aimed at capturing the $7.3 trillion daily trading volume of the global forex market.

World Swap: More Than Just Currency Exchange, a “Dimensionality Reduction” Attack on the Banking Settlement Layer

Traditional Forex Pain Points: T+2 Settlement and 2%-10% Hidden Taxes

Globally, cross-border remittances and currency exchanges have long been monopolized by the SWIFT system and Wall Street intermediaries. Folkman calculated on-site at Consensus that traditional remittance services charge 2% to 10% in fees per transaction, and interbank settlements typically take T+2 (two business days), resulting in high capital costs.

The core disruptive power of World Swap lies in forcing all currency pairs to be settled through USD1 stablecoins.

Data Evidence: USD1’s Liquidity Foundation Is Taking Shape

As of February 13, according to official WLFI disclosures and on-chain data aggregation, the USD1 stablecoin market cap has firmly ranked in the top five among stablecoins. While it still lags behind USDT and USDC in absolute size (total supply around $5.4 billion), its total transaction volume has exceeded $2.71 billion.

The growth flywheel for USD1 is forming—just four weeks after the launch of the World Liberty Markets lending platform, it has recorded a total lending activity of $320 million, with over $200 million in loans. These real yield-generating scenarios elevate USD1 from a mere trading pair tool to a yield-bearing asset and settlement medium.

USD1 Matrix Warfare: From Single-Point Tool to Full-Stack Financial Operating System

WLFI is replicating the core logic of the Apple ecosystem: not selling a single product but offering an experience and a closed loop.

Folkman explicitly stated at the conference that the company’s vision is “to make users use crypto wallets as easily as opening mainstream payment apps,” and the complete product matrix built around USD1 is the vehicle to achieve this.

Three Pillars Already Implemented:

1. Lending Layer: World Liberty Markets
   1. Focused on institutional and retail interest-bearing deposits
   2. Attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in deposits within weeks, validating the demand for compliant stablecoins
2. Settlement Layer: World Swap
   1. Covering forex and cross-border remittances
   2. Directly connecting global users’ bank accounts and DeFi cards
3. Compliance Layer: Bank License Application
   1. Submitted a nationwide trust bank license application to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in January 2026

WLFI is not “betting” on a single breakout product but building a pluggable financial infrastructure. USD1 acts as a “universal settlement layer”—whether users are borrowing, exchanging, or paying, everything ultimately anchors to USD1. This design greatly reduces cross-product learning costs, similar to Apple’s AirDrop and Continuity features.

Token Price and Market Sentiment: Is WLFI Building a Bottom Amid Controversy?

As of February 13, Gate.io’s latest market data shows:

• WLFI price: $0.1033
• 24-hour change: -0.3%
• All-time high: $0.33 (September 2025)
• All-time low: $0.098 (February 9)

Two Core Contradictions in Market Focus:

Positive aspects:

• Technically, WLFI rebounded quickly from $0.098 to $0.1033 after hitting bottom, accompanied by a whale purchase of 10 million USDC, forming a potential “double bottom” pattern.
• Social sentiment data from Stocktwits indicates retail traders’ sentiment has shifted to bullish, with discussion volume at an “extremely high” level.

Negative aspects:

• Political risk premium has increased: after the Abu Dhabi royal family-affiliated entity invested $500 million and holds 49% equity, U.S. Democratic House members have initiated related investigations.
• Token distribution controversy: Trump family entities received 75% of protocol revenues, which some critics cite as evidence of governance centralization.

WLFI’s current price is highly sensitive to news. The launch of World Swap is a long-term positive—creating real forex trading demand for USD1 rather than mere speculative interest. However, risk-averse investors should closely monitor the technical details disclosed during the Lake House event in late February.

Regulatory Maze and Future Variables: Who Can Win the “On-Chain Forex” Compliance Ticket?

To truly handle the $7.3 trillion daily trading volume, World Swap must address both liquidity depth and regulatory licensing challenges.

Challenge A: Liquidity Threshold

Currently, USD1’s circulating supply (~$5.4 billion) still falls short of the hundreds of billions of dollars in liquidity reserves needed for the forex market. WLFI must quickly onboard more market makers or attract funds through high-yield deposits on World Liberty Markets.

Challenge B: Regulatory Arbitrage Zeroing Out

Forex brokers are heavily regulated across major jurisdictions worldwide. While WLFI has applied for a U.S. banking license, a banking license does not equate to a forex broker license. If World Swap offers leveraged forex trading to U.S. users, additional licenses from the CFTC or state regulators will be required.

Challenge C: Geopolitical Spotlight

The $500 million investment from Abu Dhabi has heightened the project’s political sensitivity. If WLFI seeks cooperation with the Federal Reserve or clearinghouses in the future, this foreign capital background will face strict scrutiny.

Summary

What WLFI is doing is “difficult but right.”

Upgrading stablecoins from DeFi Lego parts to a global currency circulation operating system—this narrative has only been attempted by Circle (USDC) and MakerDAO (DAI) over the past three years. Now, with the leverage of the Trump brand and Abu Dhabi capital, WLFI is recreating this path on USD1.