World Liberty launches $4B USD1 on Canton for RWA settlement

World Liberty Financial launched its $4.05 billion USD1 stablecoin natively on the Canton Network on Aug. 25, giving institutions a dollar-based settlement asset for tokenized securities and other real-world assets.

"Institutions have put trillions in US Treasuries and government debt onchain, but the dollar leg of settlements still runs on outdated infrastructure, creating a gap where the cost and the risk sit," Zak Folkman, co-founder and chief operating officer at World Liberty Financial, said. "Canton and native USD1 together allow real-world assets to access a dollar that settles alongside them with speed and privacy."

Native issuance lets an institution exchange USD1 and a tokenized asset as parts of the same transaction, with Canton synchronizing both transfers so the cash and asset settle together. Canton said more than $9 trillion in tokenized assets are issued or processed through its network each month, and more than $350 billion in onchain U.S. Treasurys moves across Canton daily. An earlier institutional transaction showed the structure: 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.

The deployment adds another institutional use for USD1 a day after crypto.news reported its $4 billion growth, and it comes as World Liberty Trust Company pursues a federal trust charter. The OCC granted the affiliate conditional approval on Aug. 14, requiring at least $20 million in eligible capital before it can take over USD1 issuance from BitGo Bank & Trust.

USD1 enters a network built around institutional assets

Canton applies privacy and permission controls to transactions on its public blockchain, letting participating firms control which parties can view transaction information while supporting compliance requirements used in regulated markets. Through the integration, World Liberty said institutions can use USD1 to provide collateral for derivatives and institutional loans, fund asset issuances, process redemptions 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. USD1 is redeemable for U.S. dollars on a one-to-one basis, with reserves including dollar deposits, U.S. government money market funds and other cash equivalents, and reserve reports published monthly.

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. 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. 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.

World Liberty's USD1 growth faces U.S. scrutiny

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 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 OCC's conditional charter approval does not allow the proposed bank to begin operating; 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, and would provide digital-asset custody and stablecoin conversion services to institutional clients under federal supervision.

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, with Canton applying rules covering approved spending categories while restricting access to recipients' sensitive information.

The Canton deployment strengthens USD1's position in the institutional settlement market, where tokenized Treasurys and other real-world assets need a dollar leg that moves at the same time as the asset. As more stablecoins become natively available on Canton, institutions gain flexibility in how they fund, settle and move liquidity across applications and markets, Eric Saraniecki, co-founder and head of network strategy at Digital Asset, said. The next milestone is the OCC's final authorization decision, which would shift USD1's issuance from BitGo to a federally supervised trust company.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.