Eric Trump Champions USD1 as PYUSD Growth Slows: A Crypto Power Shift in 2026

Eric Trump's latest endorsement of USD1 sends shockwaves through the stablecoin sector, coinciding with a visible deceleration for PayPal's PYUSD.

The Trump Factor Enters Crypto

Political heavyweights are now making direct plays in digital assets. Eric Trump's public promotion of USD1 isn't just celebrity backing—it's a strategic move that leverages brand recognition to capture market trust. This kind of high-profile advocacy cuts through typical crypto marketing noise, potentially redirecting institutional and retail flows almost overnight.

PYUSD Hits a Growth Wall

Meanwhile, the once-hyped PYUSD shows signs of stalling. Launched with the might of a fintech giant, its adoption curve is flattening. The numbers tell the story: user growth metrics are softening, and transaction volumes aren't hitting projected peaks. It turns out that a trusted brand name alone doesn't guarantee dominance in the ruthlessly efficient crypto markets—who knew?

The Stablecoin Wars Heat Up

This isn't just about two tokens. It's a battle for the plumbing of the future financial system. USD1's push, amplified by Trump's platform, directly challenges the incumbent strategy of legacy fintech players. The market is voting with its capital, favoring assets with clear utility and aggressive promotion over those relying on legacy corporate inertia.

A New Era of Crypto Politics

The convergence of political influence and digital asset promotion marks a new phase. Advocacy moves markets, and traditional power structures are scrambling to find their footing. For every billionaire quietly accumulating Bitcoin, there's now a public figure betting on a specific stablecoin's success—making the entire space more volatile, politicized, and unpredictable.

The race is on. Will established fintech adapt, or will new alliances between crypto-native projects and political influencers rewrite the rules? One thing's clear: in the high-stakes game of stablecoins, resting on your laurels is a surefire way to watch your market share evaporate. Just ask any traditional banker who dismissed Bitcoin a decade ago.

How did USD1 outpace PYUSD?

Eric Trump formally announced on the social media platform X that the stablecoin for World Liberty Financial (WLFi), known as USD1, is now larger than PayPal’s digital dollar (PYUSD). 

Recent market data shows that USD1 holds a market capitalization of almost $4.5 billion, passing PayPal’s PYUSD, which sits at $3.76 billion. 

PayPal is a global fintech giant with millions of users, while USD1 was launched less than a year ago. 

The USD1 stablecoin actually jumped out of the gate when it was used to complete a $2 billion MGX investment into Binance. 

Since then, the project has made aggressive expansion moves, such as its partnership with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. In late 2025, Binance launched a “booster program” for USD1. This program offered investors annual returns of up to 20% for holding the token in flexible savings accounts. 

The GENIUS Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in July 2025, prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest directly to holders; therefore, exchange-based “earn” programs have become the primary way for users to get rewards. This incentive led to a massive influx of capital, and USD1’s market cap jumped by hundreds of millions of dollars in just a few months.

World Liberty Financial has focused on “Real-World Asset” (RWA) tokenization. In early January 2026, the project began tokenizing commodities like oil, gas, and timber, using USD1 as the primary currency for these settlements. 

Trump family crypto ventures 

According to recent reports, the Trump family’s crypto ventures have generated over $1 billion in proceeds since the start of 2025. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have led the expansion, which now includes the WLFI governance token that is currently valued at a market cap of $4.7 billion and a new bitcoin mining operation called American Bitcoin.

American Bitcoin saw its stock price jump 14% earlier this month, and the company recently disclosed a treasury of over 5,000 BTC.

World Liberty Financial applied for a U.S. national trust bank charter on January 8, 2026. If the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) approves the application, the family will be allowed to operate a regulated bank that can issue and safeguard USD1 under federal oversight. 

Also in January, WLFI announced a strategic partnership with Spacecoin, a project that uses a network of satellites to provide decentralized internet and banking to remote areas. 

All of these developments are leading up to the World Liberty Forum, which will be held at Mar-a-Lago on February 18, 2026. The CEO of Goldman Sachs and the Chairman of the CFTC are expected to speak at the event.

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