WLFI and Aster DEX Partner to Settle Real-World Asset Perpetuals with USD1 Stablecoin

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the Trump family-linked crypto project, has announced an exclusive partnership with Aster DEX to make USD1 the sole settlement asset for traditional finance perpetual contracts on the decentralized exchange, starting with gold, silver, crude oil, and Brent crude markets.

The collaboration comes as a new crypto risk rating firm, CORE3, assigned WLFI a “D” grade — placing it among the 50 riskiest projects on its platform — citing a lack of continuous onchain monitoring, no structured bug bounty program, and concentrated insider token ownership.

USD1 Gains Exclusive Settlement Role on Aster DEX for Commodity Perpetuals

Under the partnership, all perpetual contracts tracking real-world assets (RWAs) on Aster DEX will settle exclusively in USD1, WLFI’s dollar-pegged stablecoin. The first markets rolling out include gold, silver, crude oil, and Brent crude, with additional markets expected to follow. The fee structure for USD1 commodity pairs is set at 1 basis point for takers and negative 0.5 basis points for makers, meaning the exchange will pay a rebate to liquidity providers.

Both teams indicated they are exploring deeper integration across their respective token ecosystems. Aster DEX offers perpetual contracts that allow traders to gain exposure to traditional assets through a DeFi interface, and adding USD1 as a settlement option expands the stablecoin’s utility beyond simple transfers. For WLFI, the integration creates a new use case: traders holding USD1 can use it directly for trading commodity perpetuals without converting to other stablecoins first.

USD1’s Expanding Footprint and Market Position

USD1 has surpassed $4.6 billion in circulating supply, distributed across Ethereum (40.60%), BNB Chain (40.47%), and Solana (18.48%). The stablecoin ranks fifth among stablecoin issuers by daily active addresses, ahead of PayPal and Ethena. Recent integrations include BitGo Mint adding USD1 to its institutional stablecoin management platform, MEXC integrating USD1 across Launchpool, Savings, and as futures collateral, and World Liberty Markets launching as a DeFi lending platform with USD1 as the primary asset.

WLFI has been pushing distribution aggressively, including a toolkit that lets AI agents transact autonomously using USD1, a Binance campaign offering a 135 million WLFI reward pool to USD1 holders, and listings on Coinbase and MEXC. The partnership with Aster DEX reflects a broader trend of stablecoins seeking differentiated use cases, building integrations that create specific utility rather than competing solely on listings.

CORE3 Ratings Firm Assigns WLFI ‘D’ Grade, Citing Security and Token Concentration Risks

CORE3, a new crypto risk ratings firm launched on April 2, 2026, assigned World Liberty Financial a “D” grade based on a probability of loss score of 68.01, placing the project among the bottom 50 worst-scoring projects on the platform. CORE3 rates 1,426 crypto projects and 253 exchanges based on publicly available data, with lower scores indicating lower probability of loss and corresponding to A and B letter grades.

Top risks identified at the $2.8 billion DeFi project include a lack of continuous onchain monitoring, which raises the chance of a delayed response should a security incident occur; the absence of a structured bug bounty program, which reduces proactive vulnerability discovery; and a token structure where insiders own the majority of tokens, representing another major risk.

Dyma Budorin, CEO of HAI Group (the firm behind CORE3 and blockchain security firm Hacken), stated that the industry still suffers from the same problems it had years ago, with many projects wanting to make money fast without thinking about risks. CORE3 advertises itself as the only crypto ratings agency that makes its scoring system completely public, allowing anyone to see exactly why projects received their scores. Budorin said that if others copy their methodology, that is fine as long as the industry becomes safer.

Aster DEX’s Transformation and Future Plans

For Aster DEX, the commodity expansion tracks with its own transformation from a crypto-only perpetual DEX into a multi-asset trading platform. The exchange already offers perpetuals on U.S. equities alongside its core crypto derivatives and recently launched the genesis phase of Aster Chain, a privacy-focused Layer 1 using zero-knowledge proofs. Details on the full scope of the integration and timeline for the TradFi perpetual markets have not yet been fully disclosed, but both teams indicated further announcements are expected.

FAQ

What is the partnership between WLFI and Aster DEX?

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and Aster DEX have partnered to make USD1 the exclusive settlement asset for real-world asset perpetual contracts on Aster DEX. The first markets include gold, silver, crude oil, and Brent crude, with additional markets planned. Both teams are exploring deeper integration across their respective token ecosystems.

What risk rating did WLFI receive from CORE3?

CORE3, a new crypto risk ratings firm, assigned WLFI a “D” grade with a probability of loss score of 68.01, placing it among the 50 riskiest projects on the platform. Cited risks include lack of continuous onchain monitoring, no structured bug bounty program, and concentrated insider token ownership.

How large is USD1’s market presence?

USD1 has a circulating supply exceeding $4.6 billion, distributed across Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana. It ranks fifth among stablecoin issuers by daily active addresses, ahead of PayPal and Ethena. Recent integrations include BitGo Mint, MEXC, and World Liberty Markets.