World Liberty Financial (WLFI) governance token fell more than 8% and its USD1 stablecoin temporarily lost its dollar peg after co-founder Eric Trump deleted a retweet promoting additional USD1 trading pairs on Binance.
WLFI subsequently published a statement alleging a coordinated attack involving hacked cofounder accounts, paid influencers, and large short positions - claims that, as of publication, no independent security firm or blockchain analytics provider has corroborated.
WLFI recovered partially, trading around $0.111 after touching a low of $0.107 USDT.
Twenty-four-hour trading volume surged over 86% to $338 million.
What Happened
The deleted retweet referenced an official WLFI post stating more USD1 trading pairs would be listed on Binance. Its removal triggered immediate sell pressure, with the token recording a 24-hour decline of approximately 5.37%.
WLFI's official statement said attackers had "hacked several WLFI cofounder accounts," paid influencers to spread negative sentiment, and opened "massive $WLFI shorts to profit from manufactured chaos."
The project offered no transaction hashes, security audit links, or third-party verification to support those claims. WLFI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why It Matters
USD1 is a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed 1:1 by short-term U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents, with reserves custodied by BitGo. Its market capitalization has reached approximately $4.9 billion, surpassing PayPal's PYUSD in late January.
A depeg event - even temporary - draws scrutiny to a stablecoin that has positioned itself as an institutional-grade product.
The episode also arrives at a sensitive moment for WLFI. Binance's 235 million WLFI token airdrop for USD1 holders, running through March 20, was designed to accelerate adoption. Congressional scrutiny of WLFI's reported $500 million UAE stake deal remains active, with a March 1 response deadline issued by Rep. Ro Khanna.
Attributing price volatility to external sabotage - without independent verification - is a pattern seen in crypto projects seeking to deflect from internal credibility events. Whether the "coordinated attack" claim holds up to scrutiny depends on evidence WLFI has yet to produce publicly.
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