At the end of March, World Liberty Financial, the crypto company affiliated with President Donald Trump and his family, announced plans to launch of a new stablecoin known as USD1.
While details are still forthcoming, USD1 will likely be similar in concept to popular stablecoins such as Tether (USDT -0.03%) and USDC (USDC -0.00%), which have a combined market cap of about $200 billion.
The launch of a new stablecoin by a Trump-affiliated financial entity marks yet another key step in the development of the Trump White House's crypto strategy. There's a lot to unpack here, so let's take a closer look at how this new stablecoin could affect you as an investor.
Stablecoins 101
At a very high level, stablecoins are essentially just digital dollars. That's because many stablecoins (but not all) are pegged 1-to-1 to the U.S. dollar.
Theoretically, they should always trade for $1, and that's because they are backed by cash and cash equivalents. At any point in time, you should be able to exchange $1 in stablecoins for $1 in cash.
CRYPTO: USDC
Key Data Points
If you look at a price chart of a stablecoin over an extended period of time, you'll see this immediately. The price chart of a stablecoin is usually very boring because the price almost always oscillates around the $1 mark.
Stablecoins and global financial markets
What makes the new Trump-backed stablecoin so fascinating is that it can potentially be used as a tool by the U.S. government to accomplish certain economic goals. For example, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already made the case that stablecoins can be used to help maintain U.S. dollar dominance.
Image source: Getty Images.
Moreover, some have suggested that stablecoins might be used to push down interest rates on short-term U.S. debt. And still others have suggested that they might be used to pump up global trade by making it easier to move dollars around the world.
Stablecoins and individual investors
For individual investors, stablecoins provide an on-ramp to the world of decentralized finance (DeFi). Just as you can earn interest on your dollars that sit in a bank, you can also earn interest on your digital dollars sitting on a blockchain.
With a little bit of financial alchemy, you might actually be able to earn more on your digital dollars than on your real-world dollars. Mention that to any investor and see if their ears don't perk up immediately.
Generally speaking, stablecoins make it easier to move between the worlds of traditional finance and decentralized finance. And that opens up all sorts of opportunities for financial product innovation. Now that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has scaled back its war on crypto, look for these new products to be arriving soon.
Risk factors
So far, so good, right? When World Liberty Financial introduced its new stablecoin on social media, it added the tagline: "No games. No gimmicks. Just real stability." Stablecoins seem very safe and stable, so what could possibly go wrong?
A lot, actually.
All you have to do is think back to the crypto crash of 2022. The first real casualty of that crash was a stablecoin -- known as Terra USD -- that suddenly lost its 1-to-1 peg to the U.S. dollar.
It turns out Terra USD wasn't fully backed by cash and cash equivalents, and it soon collapsed in value. That created an entire cascade of negative events, ultimately culminating with bankruptcies, liquidations, market panic, and huge losses.
If you dig deep into the academic research, there's some concern that any future loss of confidence in stablecoins could bring down not just the crypto market, but also the traditional financial system as well. And that's especially the case if stablecoins become more integrated into U.S. macroeconomic, monetary, or trade policies.
What complicates the task ahead for USD1 is that it is being launched by a private company with strong ties to the Trump administration, including the president. Already, some crypto industry watchers and government watchdogs are warning of potential conflicts of interest.
There is also the potential for financial mischief-making by outsiders, now that the SEC has been neutralized. Case in point: World Liberty Financial says crypto scammers have already launched coins purporting to be the new USD1, which has not yet started trading.
How to think about the new Trump stablecoin
For the past few months, stablecoins have been one of the biggest success stories in the crypto market. More than $40 billion flowed into them from Election Day to the end of January, and the total size of the stablecoin market has ballooned past $200 billion. New stablecoin legislation is going to be signed any moment now, with President Trump demanding simple common-sense rules for how they can be used in financial markets.
With that in mind, you won't become a millionaire by holding the new USD1 stablecoin in your portfolio. After all, it won't trade higher than $1. Ever. But it could unlock additional yield if you are willing to get involved with sophisticated DeFi strategies.
For now, I'm viewing the new stablecoin from World Liberty Financial as a proxy for understanding the next moves of the Trump White House. If you want to see what's coming next for the crypto industry -- and possibly for the broader U.S. economy -- keep your eyes on USD1.
