USD1, the US dollar stablecoin launched by the President Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI), has become the seventh-largest stablecoin worldwide in just two months since its launch.

WLFI’s snapshot vote for a USD1 airdrop proposal is underway, and USD1’s market capitalization has continued to climb.

Launched in early March with a $3.5 million supply, USD1 has expanded into a market cap of $2.2 billion at the time of writing, leaving rival stablecoins First Digital USD (FDUSD), PayPal USD (PYUSD) and Tether Gold (XAUT) behind, according to data from CoinGecko.

Top 10 stablecoins by market capitalization. Source: CoinGecko

Although rising fast, the USD1 market cap is still far from the market value of major stablecoins like Tether’s USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC), whose market caps are worth $149 billion and $61 billion, respectively.

BNB Chain drives USD1 issuance

Trump-backed USD1 is almost exclusively issued on Binance-backed BNB Chain. According to data from BscScan, as much as $2.1 billion of all USD1 supply is issued on BNB Chain, accounting for more than 99% of its total circulating supply, while an Ethereum-based version accounts for just $14.5 million, according to Etherscan.

BNB Chain-based (BEP-20) USD1 versus Ethereum-based (ERC-20) USD1. Source: BscScan, Etherscan

USD1’s latest market spike was sharp, jumping 1,540% from $128 million to $2.1 billion within two days in late April, according to CoinGecko.

USD1 (USD1) market cap chart since April 2025. Source: CoinGecko

The spike came days before Eric Trump announced that Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX would use the USD1 to invest $2 billion in Binance.

Justin Sun-backed HTX among the first CEXs to list USD1

As USD1’s market cap spiked, some centralized exchanges (CEXs) rushed to list the Trump-backed stablecoin.

HTX, a crypto exchange closely associated with Tron founder Justin Sun and formerly known as Huobi, announced the listing of USD1 with permanent zero-fee withdrawals on the BEP-20 network on May 6.

Source: HTX

According to websites like CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap, HTX was one of the first CEXs to list USD1, as the token is primarily available on decentralized exchanges, including PancakeSwap and Uniswap.

Most WLFI inflows come from outside the US

While the WLFI community has been voting on the USD1 airdrop, some reports suggested that WLFI investment is mainly coming from outside the United States.

According to a poll by V1PS founder Notaz.Sol, as much as 90% of WLFI investors are likely coming from non-US jurisdictions, including Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Source: Tran Hung

A May 7 Bloomberg report also indicated that over half of the top holders of Trump-branded memecoins reside abroad.

The USD1 stablecoin’s growth lines up with Trump’s pro-stablecoin agenda announced in his executive order on “Strengthening American leadership in digital financial technology” in January.

While WLFI has been closely associated with Binance, both Trump and Binance have repeatedly denied and criticized reports suggesting any links or deals between the parties.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

In an industry filled with complexity, jargon and mistrust, women in Web3 say that the way to attract more women into the crypto space starts with clarity, education and community. 

At the Blockchain Baddies side event during Token2049 in Dubai, women shared personal experiences of entering the Web3 world and why they believe more female participation is essential for the future of crypto.

In interviews with Cointelegraph, community members said the path forward begins with simplifying technical concepts and fostering environments where women can learn and grow.

Women in Web3 share experiences in the crypto space. Source: Cointelegraph

From providing clarity to building skills 

From simplifying technical language to creating safe spaces for learning, women in Web3 said that demystifying crypto and making tools more intuitive can unlock more opportunities for women to enter the Web3 industry. 

Caroline York, the marketing director of Web3 firm Serotonin, said that making the space more welcoming to women starts with clarity. “In order to attract more women, we’ve got to make the information much more digestible and a lot clearer,” she said.

York told Cointelegraph that women also tend to feel safer in high-trust and intimate environments, with friends and peers as their information source. “Women learn from other women,” York added, pointing to community-driven educational initiatives like SheFi. York said these programs play a role in expanding female participation. 

Saima Tariq Khan, an engineer, educator and crypto community member, echoed York’s sentiments. Khan told Cointelegraph that demystifying crypto’s intimidating vocabulary is the way to go. “What is DeFi? What do I mean by cryptocurrency? What is blockchain? First, we need to build that first level of understanding,” she said. 

Khan also said that while many women graduate from computer science courses, they are underrepresented in the workforce. The community member said that Web3’s remote-friendly nature offers an opportunity to engage with an untapped talent pool. 

Blockchain Baddies side event during Token2049 in Dubai. Source: Cointelegraph

Related: Crypto spending will grow, but fiat isn’t going anywhere: Mercuryo CEO

Financial literacy should be the starting point

Paloma Soria Brown, an author and a SheFi scholar, also said education is the key. However, Brown said financial literacy should be the starting point. 

“People don’t necessarily know what Web3 means,” Brown told Cointelegraph. “When you know about crypto but you’re not an investor, you might only see the scams and rug pulls.”

Brown said that increasing financial education and building trust are essential to attracting women and more people into the space. She said if more people understood Web3’s concepts of ownership, freedom and community, they would be drawn to its potential. 

Meanwhile, Abigail Xavier, marketing manager at Web3 financial platform Fasset, told Cointelegraph that companies have a role to play in making crypto more accessible to women. Xavier said their team actively seeks input from women-focused communities to improve their products. 

“We’re partnering with a lot of women-inclusive communities to understand their experience and incorporate that feedback into our UI and UX,” Xavier said. “We want to make our platform and tools more intuitive for our female audience.”

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Payments behemoth Visa has invested in BVNK, a London-based startup focused on stablecoin payment infrastructure, signaling continued interest in digital asset innovation.

According to a May 7 BVNK announcement, the startup “secured a strategic investment from Visa through their Visa Ventures arm.” Furthermore, while the company does not explain fully what it entails, it refers to the investment as “more than capital” and describes it as a partnership. The company’s CEO, Jesse Hemson-Struthers, wrote:

“I’m particularly excited about what it means to partner with Visa—the original payments innovator. Their deep expertise in building global payment networks, combined with our stablecoin infrastructure, creates powerful possibilities for redefining how businesses operate in today’s digital economy.“BVNK-VISA partnership image. Source: BVNK

Rubail Birwadker, head of products and partnerships at Visa, explained that “stablecoins are fast becoming a part of global payment flows.” He said that Visa invests in new technologies and builders, such as BVNK, who are involved in “what’s next in commerce to better serve our clients and partners.”

Related: Stablecoin fever: 5 major stablecoins are growing crypto adoption

BVNK is on a roll

Visa’s investment in BVNK follows the stablecoin infrastructure company closing a $50 million Series B funding round led by Haun Ventures at the end of 2024, with plans to expand into the United States. The round saw the participation of industry heavyweights including Coinbase Ventures, Scribble Ventures, DRW VC, and existing investors Avenir and Tiger Global.

The company is based in London and was estimated to be worth about $750 million at the time. BVNK planned to leverage its US offices to develop a local banking infrastructure and work on operational licenses to serve local companies.

Related: Pro-crypto Democrats pull support for stablecoin bill in last minute

VISA banks on crypto

Visa has been increasingly scaling up its involvement in the crypto space. In late October 2024, the firm allowed Visa users with eligible debit cards will soon be able to instantly deposit and withdraw funds from their accounts with crypto exchange Coinbase. Visa said at the time that “Coinbase already has millions of users with a debit card connected to their account,” and now they will get “real-time delivery of account funds for those using an eligible Visa debit card.”

During the same month, Visa unveiled its Visa Tokenized Asset Platform. This new system aims to simplify the issuance and management of tokenized assets, including tokenized deposits, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight