UFC White House event uses Trump-linked stablecoin for bonuses

Professional fighters competing at the White House on Saturday night didn't just walk away with bruises. They walked away with stablecoins.

World Liberty Financial, the DeFi project tied to Donald Trump and his family, sponsored the UFC Freedom 250 event with a $250,000 Performance of the Night bonus pool paid entirely in its USD1 stablecoin. The contest took place on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14, timed to coincide with both US Flag Day and Trump's birthday.

WLFI wasn't the only crypto player writing checks. Crypto.com separately funded a $1 million bonus pool in its CRO token for the same event. The combined crypto-denominated bonus total hit $1.25 million for a single night of fights.

Individual Performance of the Night awards reached $425,000 per fighter. Fight-night bonuses across the card hit as high as $1.65 million total, making UFC Freedom 250 one of the largest single-event bonus pools in UFC history.

WLFI announced the sponsorship on June 10 via its X account, giving just four days of lead time before the event.

The President of the United States has financial disclosures listing his holdings in WLFI at more than $50 million. A project in which the sitting president holds a significant financial stake is now sponsoring events on the grounds of his official residence.

Critics have flagged the arrangement as a potential conflict of interest. When the person who lives in the building also profits from the corporate sponsor paying fighters on the building's lawn, governance scholars tend to get uncomfortable. Supporters counter that Trump has been openly pro-crypto since before his second term and that the sponsorship simply reflects an administration putting its money where its mouth is.