HTX joins USD1 rewards scheme as stablecoin looks to move past political optics

HTX’s partnership with World Liberty Financial signals pressure to rename USD1 as more than a simple asset linked to Trump. But the biggest question is looming: will merchants kiss the shock for its usefulness, or does its attraction be attached to the political brand of the president? The first data suggests a difficult battle.

August 7, Crypto Exchange HTX announcement It would be among the first major trading platforms to integrate the USD points program of World Liberty Financial, a loyalty initiative launched Thursday to reward users for having detained, exchanged and exercised stablecoin.

The program is presented as the first global loyalty system designed specifically for stablecoin users, and positions HTX as a key key partner alongside other nameless platforms. In particular, collaboration is being set up to normalize USD1 in an always suspicious industry in its original history.

Can awards resolve the USD1 adoption problem?

For World Liberty Financial, the loyalty program seems to be designed to meet a basic challenge faced USD1: credibility. Since its launch in April, the stablecoin affiliated to Trump has had trouble losing its identity as a politically brand -brand rather than a neutral token and focused on public services.

Despite an increase of 21% of 21% in market capitalization, USD1 amounts to only $ 601 million, a fraction of holders like USDT from Tether and USDC from Circle, which orders $ 167 billion and $ 64 billion respectively, respectively, according to CoinmarketCap.

Kaito analysts said to CNBC Last month, the lack of institutional support and promotional utility of Stablecoin prevented it from setting up. “Most of the successful stablecoins do so with a mixture of utility, visibility and incentives,” noted a Kaito researcher. “Until now, USD1 had nothing.”

The launch of the Rewards initiative aims to return this script. According to the press release, users on HTX can now earn loyalty points by exchanging USD pairs, holding USD sales or stimulating the token via the platform. Additional awards will be offered by the integration of partners and the mobile application of WLFI, with specific rules varying depending on the exchange.

“We are proud to support this loyalty program as a means of stimulating adoption through avant-garde initiatives.” HTX advisor Justin Sun said.

The political elephant in the play

While World Liberty Financial maintains that USD1 is entirely supported by US treasury bills and other cash equivalents, its deployment has been mired in controversy. Donald Trump Jr. has designed USD1 as a tool to promote the strength of the dollar, but criticisms see profound conflicts of interest. The Trump family occupies advisory roles in the project and, according to CNBC, 75% of the profits are sent to family -related entities.

The concerns intensified after the recent promotion of the Trump token, which offered the best holders a private dinner with the former president. Senator Elizabeth Warren described the competition “an orgy of corruption”, accusing Trump of using the crypto to get rich himself and his allies.

According to Inca Digital, more than $ 5.2 billion in gains were concentrated in a small number of portfolios, while more than half a million participants suffered collective losses of $ 3.9 billion.