World Liberty Financial $3.4B USD1 Pushes Stablecoins Deeper Into Onchain Lending

This article was first published on Deythere.

World Liberty Financial just launched its World Liberty Markets platform, a decentralized borrowing and lending system built around its dollar-backed stablecoin, USD1. Sitting on a circulating supply of nearly $3.4 billion with the WLFI governance token, this is a big move into onchain credit markets. 

World Liberty Markets Launches to Grow DeFi Credit

World Liberty Markets launched on January 12, 2026, as an open-source on-chain borrowing and lending platform that allows users to deposit collateral, borrow USD1 and earn yield by supplying assets. 

Running on Dolomite, a decentralized finance infrastructure provider, the network uses smart contracts to automatically enforce terms regarding lending as well as collateral ratios and liquidations. 

It eliminates centralized intermediaries and replaces them with transparent blockchain cod,e allowing users to see all risk parameters available. 

Rather than depending on credit scores and manual underwriting like traditional lines of credit, World Liberty Markets supports rules natively onchain. 

Users deposit assets like ETH, tokenized BTC, and stablecoins such as USDC and USDT, and then borrow USD1 against these holdings. Interest rates fluctuate depending on the supply and demand in each collateral pool, and are not fixed for months or years, as with most traditional loans. 

Stablecoin USD1 Anchors the Credit System

USD1, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, is the foundation of World Liberty Market’s borrowing, lending and settlement model. The coin is 100% redeemable for the US dollar, backed by reserves, including short-term U.S. Treasury bills and cash equivalents, audited regularly by third parties to ensure transparency and confidence. 

USD1 is not strictly a lending product. Before the release of World Liberty Markets, USD1 was already accepted as a token for cross-border remittance and crypto company treasury operations as well as decentralized exchange liquidity provisioning ,showing strong adoption beyond purely trading use. 

Stablecoins like USD1 play important roles in onchain lending as they provide a stable unit of account and lower volatility compared with crypto collateral, simplifying lending mechanics and allowing borrowers to access liquidity without selling their volatile assets. 

How World Liberty Markets Works and Collateral Support

The World Liberty Markets function as a collateralized lending market where supplied assets are collectively pooled and lent out to individual borrowers. 

The collateral must exceed the loan’s value to protect lenders from defaults, a practice known as over-collateralization. 

Supporter collateral at launch includes the top cryptocurrencies like ETH and tokenized BTC as well as popular stablecoins, including USDC, USDT, and of course USD1 itself. 

The smart contracts that power World Liberty Market continuously track the value of collateral. And if an asset’s price drops below certain limits, the borrower position could be automatically liquidated by bots or protocol functions that ensure and safeguard the interests of lenders. 

This automated process contrasts sharply with centralized lending where human intervention and manual review are typical. 

World Liberty Financial has indicated its intentions of enabling tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) like tokenized real estate or government bonds as eligible collateral. 

This could push onchain credit into markets that bridge finance and DeFi, bringing new asset classes into blockchain lending. 

World Liberty’s Strategy and Regulatory Aspirations

The World Liberty Markets launched after the firm filed for a national trust bank charter with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). 

Though the charter is awaiting approval, this regulatory chase is a forward-looking approach with compliance and institutional adoption in mind. 

Were it to be granted, the charter could enable World Liberty to offer custody services,  merge stablecoin offerings with regulated financial products, and form relationships with traditional payment systems.

Conclusion

The launch of the World Liberty Markets is a new development in the DeFi credit systems. With a smart contract-powered lending platform to support the stablecoin USD1, World Liberty Financial has developed an automated and transparent borrowing and lending system that competes with traditional credit scoring. 

The increasing push of USD1 across different DeFi protocols and its growing usage, compounded by World Liberty’s own regulatory aspirations, paint the intention to bridge blockchain growth with institutionalized finance.

Glossary

World Liberty Markets debut refers to the introduction of World Liberty Financial borrowing and lending platform in January 2026. 

USD1: is a dollar-pegged stablecoin that is issued by World Liberty Financial, backed by liquid assets consisting of U.S. treasuries or cash equivalents. 

Stablecoin: a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another fiat currency and can be used for payments, as well as DeFi transactions. 

Collateralized lending:  Credit system in which loans must be backed by assets that ensure payment to protect lenders. 

Real-world assets: RWAs are essentially digital representations of physical or financial assets, like real estate or a bond. 

Frequently Asked Questions About World Liberty Markets

What is World Liberty Markets?

World Liberty Markets is the decentralized borrowing and lending platform launched by World Liberty Financial in January 2026 which deploys smart contracts combined with the USD1 stablecoin to create onchain credit. 

What role does USD1 play?

USD1 is the primary stablecoin used for lending and settlement on World Liberty Markets. It allows users to borrow against a collateral without having to offload volatile assets in the process. 

What assets can be used as collateral?

Collateral is made up of cryptocurrencies such as ETH, tokenized BTC, and stablecoins (USDC, USDT & USD1). 

Is World Liberty trying to get regulatory approval?

Yes. The firm has filed with the U.S. OCC to be recognized as a national trust bank charter, which would allow it to expand its offerings of regulated financial services. 

What is the difference between onchain lending and traditional lending?

Onchain lending relies on smart contracts to automate terms, collateral enforcement and liquidations; rather than manual underwriting or intermediaries. 

References

CoinDesk

Business Wire

The Block

Cointelegraph