We won’t be intimidated while building, says WLF co-founder to Senate

World Liberty Financial (WLF), a crypto firm connected to President Donald Trump, replied to the Senate on its investigation into its USD1 stablecoin, stating that WLF will not be intimidated by the investigation.

Zach Witkoff, the co-founder of WLF, who wrote the response to the Senate, said that the US, as well as the world, is in need of stablecoins like USD1. and doesn’t want to be bothered as they build. In his statement to the Senate, Witkoff said, “we will not be intimidated by politicians with an axe to grind; we’re too busy building.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal initiated the probe to question the involvement of the president in the crypto projects linked to him. This includes the $TRUMP memecoin and WLF’s USD1. 

The $TRUMP memecoin made its debut on Solana in January 2025, celebrating the Donald Trump brand, launching just as Trump stepped into office as the U.S. president.

While it has faced ethical questioning for blending politics with financial gain, it remains actively traded on platforms like Binance and Coinbase.

Launched in September 2024, World Liberty Financial (WLF) was created to provide a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform to offer services such as crypto borrowing, lending, and investing. 

In March 2025, World Liberty Financial launched USD1, a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin. It is designed to maintain a 1:1 value with the U.S. dollar and backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills and cash reserves under the custody services of BitGo.

Since its debut, USD1 has rapidly gained traction, achieving a market capitalization of $2 billion. Its growth has been enhanced by integration with Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP)  to enable interoperability with other protocols, including Ethereum and BNB Chain.

According to the senator, the president’s involvement with $TRUMP AND WLF creates conflicts of interest and can create illegal influence over the nation from foreign individuals or governments.

A previous letter sent by the senator to Zach Witkoff, co-founder of WLF, and Bill Zanker, head of Fight Fight Fight LLC, the company behind the $TRUMP memecoin in May, demanded details about the ownership, financial records, and safeguards against conflicts of interest in $TRUMP and WLF.

Blumenthal explained that the projects are a “pay-to-play scheme” that can make Trump richer while hiding payments through blockchain anonymity. He also noted that Justin Sun, the leader behind the TRON blockchain who is facing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fraud case, holds nearly 1.4 million $TRUMP coins.

In response to the senator’s call-out, WLF’s legal team replied, saying that the probe’s claims were “fundamentally flawed.” The team said that USD1 is fully backed with adequate asset reserves and denied any connection between WLF and Fight Fight Fight LLC.

For the lawmakers, there is a divide between Democrats and Republicans. The former lack subpoena power without the latter to advance the probe. 

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers have stopped the GENIUS Act. The legislation is a bipartisan bill to regulate stablecoins, citing Trump’s crypto ties. Senator Ruben Gallego, who initially supported the bill, reversed his decision, stating that it lacks protections against conflicts of interest. 

The White House has downplayed the concerns cited by the lawmakers about Trump’s relationship with the crypto projects. Anna Kelly, Deputy Press Secretary, told CNBC, “President Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest.” 

With Republicans in control of Congress, the result of the probe remains unknown. However, the probe has sparked curiosity and increased scrutiny for Trump’s crypto empire.