UFC to pay White House fighters in crypto issued by Trump company | Trump administration
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced Friday that it will pay bonuses to fighters at its heavily publicized White House mixed martial arts event on Sunday through a cryptocurrency issued by the Trump family company World Liberty Financial.
This development ties the Trump family’s financial interests to the high-profile UFC competition promoted on state property. The contest on the south lawn of the White House is scheduled for June 14, Donald Trump’s birthday.
The UFC said some fighters will receive bonuses in World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency, called “stablecoins,” whose value is pegged to the U.S. dollar. World Liberty named the currency “USD1”.
World Liberty is an initiative of the Trump family and the family of Steven Witkoff, Trump’s friend and special envoy for the Middle East. The company is now listed as the “official sponsor” of the UFC Freedom 250 fight scheduled for Sunday. The use of stablecoin in the fight seems likely to boost efforts to use it more widely.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said there was no conflict of interest and that Trump’s assets were in a trust managed by his children. “Fake News’ continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public’s distrust of what they read.”
The fight is not affiliated with Freedom 250, a separate organization supporting the country’s 250th anniversary.
World Liberty Financial, a Delaware-based cryptocurrency startup founded by Donald Trump and his sons with the Witkoff sons in 2024, has emerged as one of the most high-profile businesses tied to the president’s family.
At one point, Trump Sr. was publicly listed by the company as “Chief Crypto Lawyer.”
His financial disclosure form lists his assets at World Liberty Financial as “over $50 million.”
Reuters reported this month It was stated that the Trump family’s crypto initiatives led by WLF have generated billions of dollars in paper profits and have become one of the largest sources of wealth connected to the president and his family.
World Liberty announced that the company had created a “bonus pool” for the event and quoted Zach Witkoff, son of Steve Witkoff and CEO of World Liberty Financial. “We believe this is the future of finance and we are excited to partner with the UFC, which is doing more than any other organization to modernize the business of sports,” he said.
World Liberty was mired in controversy surrounding digital “governance token,” a type of crypto it sells, and is in litigation with crypto mogul Justin Sun, one of the original buyers of the tokens. This year, he sued the company for allegedly improperly freezing its tokens, and World Liberty also sued him for defamation.
USD1 stablecoins They are separate from tokens and are tradable digital assets backed by dollar reserves. The company also applied To obtain a banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
World Liberty Financial’s role in the festivities was only revealed this week. The company first announced it was the official sponsor of the event on Wednesday, June 10. x.com. The next day, on Thursday, the UFC announced that it would distribute bonuses to fighters in a separate cryptocurrency called CRO. Then at 9:30pm on Friday, the UFC issued a press release stating that World Liberty Financial would be the “Presenting Partner of the new $250,000 Performance of the Night bonus pool.” UFC announced that these payments will be made in $1.5.
“This sounds like advertising,” Todd Phillips, a crypto expert at Klaros Group, told the Guardian. “Paying fighters with the USD1 stablecoin would have the same economic function as writing them a check, but announcing to the world that they do so with USD1 feels like advertising to the world that USD1 exists and is linked to the UFC and the White House.
