World Liberty Financial: Zak Folkman’s Plan for Global Crypto Dominance at KBW2025

Hello everyone. If you're having deja vu, it's because I was just up here. But I am Jacqueline Melanic. I am the co-founder and CEO of Token Relations as well as the Talking Tokens podcast and Crypto in America podcast. But more importantly, I am here today with Zach Folkman, the co-founder of World Liberty Financial.

As I'm sure many of you are aware, it is co-founded by nine different people, four of which are from the Trump family. And before we kind of get into the latest news with World Liberty Financial, Zach, I want to get to know you a little bit. We just met off stage, but I think a lot of people know your name, but they don't really know your story or how this all happened. So, can you kind of tell us a little bit about why you even decided to start World Liberty Financial and launch everything else in between? Yeah, first off, it's great to be here at Korea Blockchain Week.

Uh, thank you so much for the amazing welcome that we've gotten. This is my first time here in Seoul, but it will not be our last. Um, we have some really amazing partnerships that we're working on here in Korea. Um, so my background in crypto, I got into crypto uh pretty early on, probably 2015. Um, you know, previous to that, obviously, I knew what Bitcoin was.

uh a lot of my friends were using it to settle you know online poker trades and stuff like that but you know for me I'm not really like a gambler so and I wasn't one of the early Bitcoin maxis that really saw you know Bitcoin replacing you know the entire uh global ecosystem but for me you know I went to law school and the first aha moment for me was when I read the Ethereum white paper and coming from a law background and understanding just how important smart contracts were going to be to replacing absolutely everything when it comes to transactions whether it's you know legal agreements real estate transactions financial transactions that was the real aha moment where you know I was sitting in my in my room in front of my computer and I was like holy you know if this gets c if this catches on the way I think it's going to we're about to see absolutely everything change and so bought a bunch of Ethereum and uh just kind of waited and year after year after year things progressed very slowly and adoption happened a lot slower than you know I anticipated um and probably a lot of people in this room anticipated you know who were who are in crypto early and so for me the real uh impetus to start this project and to get involved was to finally be a small piece of the catalyst that really brings crypto to the forefront of finance as a whole. And you know, I'd like to think that um you know, a little bit about what we've done at World Liberty Financial has been uh instrumental in actually pushing it to the forefront, making crypto a topic in legislation, making it a topic all around the globe and bringing a lot of attention to all of us in the ecosystem. and hopefully building products that really change the way things are done and see everything in web 3 actually get the spotlight and the growth that it really deserves.

It's been a little over a year since World Liberty Fly launched, right? What has been the most standout moments for you? There has been definitely a lot of milestones along the way, but what just came to mind? You know, I don't think that there's one uh moment that really uh stands out. I think it's been a series of events that have led us over the last year to where we are today.

Um obviously, you know, we did a uh Twitter spaces live from Mara Lago with President Trump uh shortly before he took office. That was a pretty incredible moment because we had over a million people on that live stream and it really showed that we're bringing that spotlight to the space and that was before we launched anything from our pre-sale to USD1 uh to anything. And that was a pretty exciting moment because it really showed us that we were standing on the cusp of something to come. Um since then it's been an incredible journey. We've had some amazing moments from, you know, our our token sale, our pre-sale that went live.

I believe it was in uh last October. Um, and it got a very slow start and uh, you know, for people that are familiar, it took a while for it to catch on, but once it caught on, it was incredibly successful. We uh sold out the first round uh at one and a half cents and then opened a second round at five cents and uh both of those sold out making it one of the most successful ICOs in history. Um and when it comes to that, I think the thing that we're most proud of is not that it was one of the most successful ICOs in history, but that it set a new standard for how ICOs would be done. you know, we were early early on we were criticized because it was a DeFi project that required KYC and AML.

And I think that that really highlights what it is that we're trying to do here, which is if we're going to bring crypto and web 3 technology to traditional finance and really merge the two, it requires a focus on regulatory uh uh guidelines, right? It's something that we've asked for for a long time as an industry is just give us a set of rules and guard rails so that especially in the United States, people can found crypto companies without fear of undue backlash, right? And that clarity is something that's really important if we're going to be successful as an industry. So I think for us uh being able to do an ICO that was so successful in a way where it was compliant with KYC and AML while we were criticized for it. I think it's one of those things where it was really a demonstration of where this industry is moving to and how web 3 technology is super powerful but without the focus on compliance and regulatory um you know uh adoption this isn't going to move where we as an industry want to go.

So I think that that was another thing that was uh uh really really important for us. And then finally, you know, there's, like I said, there's too many things to name, but other than that, the launch and the success of USD1, which has been the fastest growing stable coin of all time. We're uh close to approaching a $3 billion market cap in under six months. And we believe that the growth from there is going to be absolutely exponential. So,

there we go. So, we got World Liberty Fi L WLFI. How do you say that? just

WLFI. Spell it out. To our Yeah, WLFI, but to our uh friends and fans in Asia, a lot of them call it WiFi. So, I've heard WiFi a lot, and I I actually kind of like that.

Okay, so we got Wi-Fi and then we got USD1, the stable coin. How do you kind of see those two playing a role in unison in the bigger mission of like what World Liberty 5 really wants to do? Yeah. So, I think if you take a look at the stable coins that have uh really dominated over the last few years, um one of the things that they really lack is community participation and the ability for the users and holders of the stable coin to participate in the direction and the growth of the platform. And for us, having WLFI, the governance token that underlies the stable coin as well as the protocol as a whole, is something that's never been done before, uh, at least successfully.

And our goal is to involve the entire community and the holders and the users and adopters of USD1 to be able to participate in the direction of the growth and uh, the brand as a whole. So that to me is one of the things that makes us really unique. If you look at the other stable coins that are out there, people don't use them because they have any brand affinity or loyalty towards them. They use them because they serve a particular use case. And for us, we have seen massive support and participation in USD1 because people feel like it's a stable coin that they can be involved in.

And we have a true community that's almost like a meme a meme-l like culture behind it, but it's for an institutional, fully backed and genius act compliant stable coin.

The meme comment caught me. It tripped me up. It made me laugh. Okay.

Didn't expect it.

No, I wasn't. I didn't think we'd get Memecoin into this conversation, but the current market conditions seem pretty favorable right now. And obviously, you have to think to the cyclical nature of crypto markets. So when you think about uh sharp market downturns, the volatility of crypto assets as a whole, what are you kind of doing to safeguard USD1 holders and then Wi-Fi token holders and keep them protected throughout market conditions?

Yeah, great question. So I think when it comes to USD1, it's pretty straightforward. USD1 is a stable coin that's fully compliant with the Genius Act and that means that all of the assets are backed up one to one with cash and cash equivalents. All of these funds that back USD1 are held in a bankruptcy remote structure, which means no matter what happens to the company, to the issuer, the funds are always there and users are safe and protected and always going to be able to redeem their USD1 for a dollar no matter what happens. And you know, we've seen uh even some of the largest stable coins have had periods where they haven't held PEG, but it's the confidence and the backing in the reserves that makes it regain its peg.

So for us, I think USD1 is very safe, very stable because of that bankruptcy remote onetoone backing. Now when it comes to the WLFI token, obviously you know it's going to be subject to market fluctuation like any asset whether it's Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. But for us, the focus on building and developing and growing the product suite and USD1 and all of everything else that's coming out from World Liberty Financial is going to be the thing ultimately that supports the token and uh its success. You know, we're not in this to run a sprint. This truly is a marathon.

World Liberty Financial is not thinking in terms of months or or even years. We're thinking in terms of decades and how we can build products that have staying power and deliver value both to the community uh and people who use the products as a whole.

Well, uh so USD1 has been described as fully backed by dollars and treasuries. And something that it gets brought up throughout the crypto space is like audited reserves, right? So what kind of updates or reports can everyday users kind of expect to see on and offchain when it comes to USD1?

Yeah. So that's another great question. So for us, we publish monthly attestation reports that come from a third-party auditor in the US. Our books are fully open to auditors and uh we you know feel that that transparency is really important to building strong adoption. That's the reason that uh MGX chose to use USD1 for their $2 billion investment into Binance.

We went through a very rigorous due diligence uh phase before they selected us as the asset to do that transaction in. Um, so those monthly attestation reports are published on our website. You can go right now to worldlibertyfinancial.com and review all the attestation reports. But something that's even more exciting and that we're very proud of is USD1, as far as I know, is going to be the first stable coin that adopts Chainlink's proof of reserves.

So that means that not only do you have uh the transparency and the confidence from monthly attestation reports, you're going to be able to actually see those reserves in real time as published by Chain Link's proof of reserves, which I believe will be online uh in October. I I know it's the end of September now, so either the end of this month or uh in October.

Okay. Is that new news? Um, I believe we've discussed it before, but in terms of a timeline, I think that's the first time that we've actually announced it. So, you did hear that here first.

There we go. Amazing. Um, where else do you kind of see exciting real world uses for USD1 and then World Liberty FIS token? Obviously, on the USD1 side, stable coin narrative is like massive. Everyone's talking about stable coins right now.

Everyone wants to launch a stable coin. Everyone wants to integrate it. all these traditional banks are, you know, considering kind of upgrading the payment rails that they have to really move forward with this. So, how do you kind of think about that from your side? And then you brought up partnerships before.

Are there any specific partnerships that are cooking in the background that you could kind of give us an hint to?

Yeah, so for me and the team, we really view USD1 not as a DeFi stable coin or an institutional stable coin. We view it as a digital dollar that's going to replace all fiat transactions, whether it's retail, whether it's DeFi, whether it's, you know, institutional investments like the MGX1 that I just mentioned. Um, so for us, we believe that if we're going to be successful, we need to be everywhere that transactions are occurring. And part of that uh is our retail application that we've discussed in the past, but uh I think you know it's fair to say that it's coming out very soon. That retail application is going to be think of like a traditional web 2 style fintech app uh like Venmo or Cash App that allows people to do peer-to-peer payments um but also blends in a bit of a trading uh element as well.

So, it's kind of like a Venmo meets Robin Hood, but it's something that's so simple that even my mother, who I love her, uh, but she's techn she's technologically inept, she has trouble using her iPhone, but when we put the app in her hand, she was able to use it without having to be taught or guided. So, I think that abstracting away a lot of the difficult side of crypto that allows everyday users to be able to instantly interact and get the benefits of web 3, safety, security, low fees, transparency, but doing it in a way that they're already familiar today has been the real goal underlying the app. And another thing which uh might be a first time that I'm mentioning here today is we're rolling out a uh debit card as well that allows users to be able to attach their uh USD1 and their World Liberty Financial app right into their Apple Pay or take a card and be able to pay for things directly at point of sale like for everyday purchases, gas, groceries, Starbucks, etc.

When are we going to get that?

Coming very very soon.

How soon? very soon,

like next month soon.

Uh we don't have a date on the release yet, but uh believe me, we will make it very well known and uh it'll be big news when we decide to drop it.

Can anyone like pre-sign up for it now?

Uh not today, but it's coming very soon,

but you guys heard about it first, so that's what matters. Yeah. Okay. Um before you also mentioned the chain link proof of reserves, I wanted to ask you, are there any specific chains or protocols next on your road map for expansion?

Yeah. or would there be a world liberty fight chain?

Uh, okay. So, I'll take the second half first and then we'll jump into

World Liberty F chain. Yes.

No. Yeah. So, uh, breaking announcement. We will never put out a World Liberty financial chain. It's literally the opposite of our entire uh, mentality when it comes to a stable coin.

We believe that our job is not to roll out chains or exchanges or anything like that, but to be completely agnostic when it comes to chains, technology, distribution platforms. And I think that's actually one of the things that's led to our very quick and rapid success is that because we are agnostic from distribution centers or chains as a whole, it allows us to be good partners to all of the amazing technology that's out there. So USD1's goal is not to roll out chains or distribution hubs, but instead to be able to integrate wherever users are transacting.

So no chain. Okay.

Not only no chain. No chain ever.

No chain ever. I'm not going to spread misinformation. Are there any specific chains then or protocols that are on the road map in the near term? I know you said you're chain agnostic, so I guess maybe all of the top ones. How are you thinking about it?

Yeah. So um we are planning on being you know as everywhere where there's massive adoption already. Uh we're already live on Ethereum, we're already live on Salana. We're already live on BSC. Uh we're live on Tron.

Um I'm trying to think if I'm missing anything. I think today that's where we're at. Oh, we have a bunch of others actually uh that just went live the other day. Um and we have uh a couple big ones that are coming out. uh very very well-known chains.

Um but again, we support all chains with a strong use case and a strong user base and I think you'll see some of the other large ones coming out uh shortly.

So obviously World Libertifi has a strong presence in the American market, but given that we are in Korea, how do you kind of think about expansion from a global perspective, but also specifically within the Asian market? Yeah. So, um I think that the Asian markets are actually very very important because the Asian markets have actually led crypto's growth. I actually think that America unfortunately has been lagging behind when it comes to adoption and use when it comes to stable coins and crypto as a whole. Um thanks to the current administration, we're starting to see that come around.

But Asia will always be a very important place for adoption and technology as a whole. I mean, even think back to cell phones. Cell phone technology here in Asia is always so many so many years ahead of where it is in the western world. And I think that there's uh a bigger acceptance and desire to advance technology here. So whether it's uh Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, we view these markets as instrumental to our growth.

Um we have some incredible partnerships that we're here working on this week and uh we'll be back very soon to make those announcements. Um obviously, you know, these markets are very unique. Korea functions very differently than the rest of the world when it comes to the crypto market and Japan is its own subset, Singapore, Hong Kong. So, we're actually in every one of these markets talking to the regulators, understanding what's important for adoption there and working with local companies and uh firms on those partnerships. But I think that as a whole, when you look at the stable coin uh industry, every one of these jurisdictions is going to have its own native stable coin eventually or already does.

And so our goal is to partner with the best stable coins in each of these regions, whether it's uh the KRW stable coin, whether it's a Hong Kong stable coin, and be the uh liquidity pair of choice to be able to bring international commerce and remittances to all of these places in a in a digitized way while really focusing on reducing the FX exchange rates and fees that come with traditional finance and uh and banking. systems.

Before we wrap things up, Zach, I want to talk about World Libertify token holders who have governance rights. How do you kind of see this playing out in the long-term strategy for the business and its overall mission and kind of giving token holders like the voice and ability to vote on what happens next?

Yeah. So, I think that's very important to our underlying mission. So, the people that hold USD1 most likely are also WLFI holders. So when things get put to community vote, it really lets us see, you know, who wants to see a certain initiative carried through. And at the end of the day, for USD1 to be accept like accepted and really adopted at mass scale as well as all of our other products from the debit card to the retail app, even how we choose to deploy incentives in WLFI tokens, it's important for us to serve the community that makes up World Liberty as a whole.

I mean, as you mentioned, it's founded by nine people. We have an amazing team beyond that, some of whom are here with me today. Um but at the end of the day we serve the community and the tools are here for the community and the globe as a whole. So allowing people to be able to participate in that governance and voice their uh desires, their concerns, their interests really helps us understand what the people want and give the community what they want to see.

Uh some well-known holders have had their world liberty tokens frozen or locked. How do you kind of balance the need for security and compliance with the crypto community's expectations of openness and self-custody and so on?

Yeah. So, I think this goes back to what we were saying originally about the token sale is there needs to be rules and guid guidelines and regulations that are in place for crypto to have wide adoption. So if you look at the wallets that were blacklisted, most of those wallets were either hacked wallets or wallets that users reported as lost or compromised. There was only one that uh was frozen that you mentioned um that was frozen for reasons other than a hack or user reported issues or sorry there were I think there were six. So, one obviously uh you know got a lot of attention, five others had uh sanctions violations and the rest of them were all user reported.

And I actually think that you know there's going to be you know the DeFi maxis who are going to say you know oh this shouldn't happen or whatever. But if you think about it, the 255 or so people that had compromised or hacked wallets are very appreciative of the fact that their funds were not stolen. And so you wouldn't want to go to your bank and find out that someone compromised or hacked your debit card and there's no recourse and there's nothing that you can do in terms of protection. So we think that keeping the community safe is actually the most important part of our job if we're going to see widespread adoption. not just in DeFi but by consumers as a whole.

There needs to be protection and guidelines that really protect the users and that's been the underlying reason for any wallet that's ever been blacklisted. It's to protect the community and to protect the holders and uh the even the merchants that that accept it. you know, you can't have somebody hack funds and then go be able to spend that on a site to book a hotel room or travel or whatever and not have any recourse or way to deal with that. So, uh I think actually it's a testament to what we're building and what we're doing to actually move crypto and DeFi into the mainstream ecosystem.

All right, and last thing, Zach, if we were back on the stage next year, what would be a headline you would want to see about World Liberty Financial? That's a great question. USD1 is the most adopted and largest stable coin on the planet.

All right. You got a year to make it happen.

Yep. I've got a lot of work ahead of me and the team has a lot of work ahead of ourselves. But if you look at what we've accomplished in such a short amount of time from one of the largest and most compliant ICOs of all time to the fastest growing stable coin of all time by a nuclear mile, I wouldn't rule it out.

All right. Amazing, Zach. Thank you so much. And thank you to everyone for listening in.

Thanks for having me.

Great job.