World Liberty Financial reports attack briefly depegged USD1

World Liberty Financial reported a coordinated attack Monday that briefly pushed its USD1 stablecoin to just over $0.99, prompting more than $270 million in withdrawals and sending its governance token, WLFI, down more than 8% before the peg recovered.

The project described the disruption starting around 1 p.m. London time, when large USD1 sales nudged the token below $1. In a post on its official X account, the team alleged that “attackers hacked several WLFI cofounder accounts, paid influencers to spread FUD, and opened massive WLFI shorts to profit from the manufactured chaos.” The post added: “It didn’t work.”

By late Monday, USD1 had returned to its $1 target. On-chain data show investors had already withdrawn more than $270 million from the stablecoin during the scare. WLFI remained lower by more than 8% in the aftermath.

World Liberty Financial maintained that reserves and systems functioned as designed. “All USD1 funds remain completely safe, secure, and fully backed. Our infrastructure and team operated exactly as designed,” the project wrote on X.

Activity on cofounder Eric Trump’s X account added to uncertainty. Around the time USD1 slipped, several recent posts referencing the project were deleted. The reason for the deletions was not clear. Older posts remained visible.

The selloff came days after a gathering at Mar-a-Lago billed as the World Liberty Forum, which featured industry and finance executives. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong appeared alongside Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman.

Launched in 2024, World Liberty Financial states its goal is to expand access to financial opportunities while reinforcing the role of the US dollar. The group lists nine cofounders: Donald Trump; his sons Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron; Steven Witkoff and his sons Zach and Alex; and Trump allies Zak Folkman and Chase Herro.

USD1 is the project’s flagship token and is described as fully backed by dollars and cash equivalents. The stablecoin’s market capitalization stands above $4.7 billion, ranking fifth by supply.