The USD1 payment gateway for an emerging stablecoin

Why accept USD1

USD1 is a young US-dollar stablecoin. It launched in March 2025 from World Liberty Financial (WLF) , and stands out for two reasons: a high-profile, politically-charged launch, and a reserve structure pitched at the conservative end of the stablecoin field.

For a merchant, accepting USD1 is a bet on a specific kind of customer — one whose token choice follows the issuer's brand and political alignment, not raw liquidity or network coverage. That audience is small but real, and growing.

Paymos accepts USD1 on Ethereum and Solana (see the panel above). As with USDT and USDC, you invoice in fiat or straight in USD1, the buyer pays, and the funds land on your balance once the transfer confirms.

What USD1 actually is

USD1 is issued by World Liberty Financial, a US-incorporated entity associated with the Trump organization, and went live in March 2025 alongside the WLFI governance token . The launch attracted significant attention given the political dimensions, but the mechanics of USD1 are a conventional stablecoin:

• 100% backed by US dollar reserves. Specifically, by short-term US government Treasuries, US dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents .
• Custody through BitGo Trust Company. BitGo is the custodian and issuer behind the reserves, with monthly attestations signed by accounting firm Crowe — a different custodial setup from Circle's, though the conservative reserve mix is comparable .
• Active marketing push. Unlike most new stablecoins, USD1 has had unusual mainstream visibility through WLF's political associations. Adoption is growing faster than the typical new stablecoin trajectory.
• Smaller circulation than mature stablecoins. USD1's circulating supply crossed $3 billion in late 2025 and ran toward $4.5 billion by early 2026 . That is substantially smaller than USDC's tens of billions or USDT's ~$140 billion , but larger than most niche or single-purpose stablecoins.

USD1 sits in an unusual position in the stablecoin market. The mechanics are conventional — it's structurally similar to USDC. The differentiation is brand and distribution rather than mechanical innovation. Whether you should accept it depends on whether your customer base overlaps with the audience WLF is reaching.

Networks where USD1 lives on Paymos

WLF has deployed USD1 on several chains — Ethereum, Solana, and Binance Smart Chain among them. On Paymos, USD1 is accepted on Ethereum (ERC20, 18 decimals) and Solana (SPL, 6 decimals) — as the panel above shows. The BSC deployment isn't in the catalog yet; tell us if you need it.

USD1 vs other US-dollar stablecoins

USD1 occupies a niche in the US-dollar stablecoin market. Its mechanical positioning is similar to USDC; its branding and distribution are distinct.

Dimension	USD1	USDC	USDT
Issuer	World Liberty Financial	Circle	Tether
Custody / oversight	BitGo Trust custodian, Crowe attestations	NYDFS-friendly, EU EMI	Limited US oversight
Reserves	Treasuries + cash	T-bills + cash	T-bills + cash + secured loans + gold + BTC
Market cap	~$3–4.5B	Tens of billions	~$140B
Networks on Paymos	2 (Ethereum, Solana)	10	11
Distribution model	Direct + DeFi venues	CEX + DeFi + fintech	CEX-native, global retail
Customer alignment	Politically-aligned, retail crypto	Crypto-native, enterprise	Global retail, CIS, Asia

If you're picking one US-dollar stablecoin for a US merchant base, USDC has the broadest reach and USDT has the deepest liquidity. USD1 makes sense as an additive offering if your audience leans into the WLF brand specifically, or if you want to signal openness to a wider stablecoin set.

Pricing and integration

USD1 carries the flat 1.0% all-in rate Paymos charges on every token — acceptance and the sweep are absorbed inside it, with nothing billed back later . Move serious monthly volume and a 0.3% Enterprise rate is on the table; ask the founder . Numbers in full on the pricing page.

USD1 is accept-only on the payout side: balances settle to your own whitelisted wallet in USDT or USDC, not in USD1 itself . There Paymos takes 0 commission and charges only a subsidised network fee, set below what the chain actually costs.

To integrate, send currency: "USD1" to POST /v1/invoices and pick the rail your customer holds — network: ERC20 for Ethereum or network: SOLANA for Solana. With the Widget SDK you set a fiat currency and the buyer chooses USD1 at checkout from the set you've turned on. Endpoints, payloads, and copy-paste samples in 8 languages live in the API docs.

Running WooCommerce, WHMCS, or OpenCart 4? Install the plugin and flip USD1 on in the gateway settings — no extra wiring.

USD1-specific edge cases

Newer token, less liquidity in DeFi

USD1's circulating supply and DEX liquidity are substantially smaller than USDT/USDC. The Uniswap and Curve pools for USD1 exist but are thinner than for the major stablecoins. That thinness bites on a treasury swap, not on acceptance: the buyer pays USD1, Paymos confirms it, and the balance is yours. When you pay it out, it leaves as USDT or USDC (see the settlement FAQ) — so deep USD1 DEX liquidity is never on your critical path.

Political brand association is a feature for some, friction for others

USD1's primary marketing leans into political-brand associations more than any other major stablecoin. For some customer segments this is an active draw; for others, an active deterrent. If your brand sits in a politically-neutral category (B2B SaaS, professional services, etc.), accepting USD1 alongside other stablecoins is operationally neutral — customers self-select. If your brand has its own political positioning, you may want to think about which signals you're sending by enabling or not enabling USD1.

Younger reserve attestation history

USD1 publishes monthly reserve attestations signed by accounting firm Crowe, but the audit trail is shorter than USDC's (years) and the granular reserve breakdown has been thinner than the major incumbents disclose . With less history comes less of a track record on transparency; verify the latest attestation directly before committing to large balance exposure.

Peg history is brief

USD1 has had one brief, shallow depeg. In February 2026 it slipped to about $0.994 — roughly 0.6% below the dollar — during what WLF called a coordinated attack, then recovered to near $0.998 within the day . That is a minor wobble, not a structural break. The underlying mechanical risk is the same as other US-dollar stablecoins — a failure in the reserve custodian could trigger an SVB-style event — and the track record is still too short to draw firm conclusions from.

Centralized freeze capability exists

Like every other custodial stablecoin in our supported set (except DAI, and XAUT for non-blacklist cases), USD1's smart contract includes a freeze/blacklist function that WLF can invoke against specific addresses. WLF has stated this is reserved for law enforcement and sanctions compliance, but the technical capability is present. The same defensive practice applies on Paymos: deposit addresses are per-invoice, isolating freeze impact.

See also

USD1 is rarely a primary stablecoin — enable it when your customer segment has a specific brand or political preference. The conventional primary for US/EU commerce is USDC; for global retail reach, USDT. For a decentralised, crypto-collateralised stablecoin, DAI. For gold-settled invoices, XAUT.

Frequently asked questions

What's the operational risk profile of USD1 vs more established stablecoins?

The mechanical risk profile is similar to USDC — backed 1

by US Treasuries and cash equivalents, custodied by BitGo Trust Company, attested monthly, structurally conservative . The differences are scale (smaller circulating supply, less mature liquidity infrastructure) and the youth of the project. For typical merchant flows the operational risk is comparable to other fiat-backed stablecoins. For very large balances, USDC's longer track record and deeper market remain advantageous.

How does USD1 differ mechanically from USDC?

Not by much at the reserve level. Both are 1

dollar-backed stablecoins with similar reserve compositions (Treasuries + cash) and similar smart-contract architectures. The custody differs — USD1 sits with BitGo Trust Company and attests monthly via Crowe, rather than Circle's own custodial model . The other differences are scale, distribution networks, and brand positioning. USD1 is younger and smaller; USDC is older and more widely distributed.

How do I settle USD1 payments?

You accept USD1, and Paymos credits your balance on confirmation. Settlement to your own whitelisted wallet runs in USDT or USDC — the two tokens Paymos supports for withdrawal — to one of 13 networks. On withdrawal Paymos takes 0 commission and charges a reduced network fee, below what the chain itself costs. There's no bank off-ramp; you control the on-chain conversion from there.

Is USD1's peg track record long enough to rely on?

Probably yes for routine merchant flows. Since the March 2025 launch USD1 has held its peg apart from one brief February 2026 dip to about $0.994 (~0.6% under), which recovered the same day . But the track record is short compared to USDC (years), so for very large balance exposure, treat USD1 like a younger sibling: fine for operating cash, more diversification-appropriate for treasury.

Why doesn't Paymos accept USD1 on BSC?

USD1 is accepted on Ethereum and Solana. WLF also deployed it on Binance Smart Chain, but that one isn't in the Paymos catalog yet. Adding a chain is an operational decision; if your customers need USD1 on BSC, let us know and we can prioritise it.

Should I accept USD1 if my brand has no political positioning?

Probably yes, as one of several stablecoin options. Customers self-select at checkout, and offering more options reduces friction. The reason to not accept USD1 is if your brand actively distances itself from the WLF political associations and you want to signal that to customers. For most merchants, this is a non-issue.

What's the typical use case for USD1 payments?

USD1 sees the most usage in (1) US retail crypto markets where the WLF brand resonates, (2) DeFi venues that have integrated USD1 into stablecoin pools alongside USDC and USDT, and (3) some niche payment contexts where the issuer's regulatory positioning matches the merchant's preference. It's not a mass-market consumer payment rail in the way the major fiat-backed stablecoins are.

Can WLF freeze my USD1?

Yes. Same as Circle for USDC and Tether for USDT — the smart contract supports blacklisting, and WLF can use it in response to law enforcement, sanctions, or court orders. To date this power has been exercised conservatively. The risk profile for ordinary merchant operations is comparable to other custodial stablecoins.