Binance has officially extended its USD1 WLFI farming event, putting 235 million WLFI tokens worth roughly $40 million up for grabs. The world’s largest crypto exchange is rewarding eligible users simply for holding USD1 across supported account types. This campaign signals a deeper alliance between Binance and World Liberty Financial, the DeFi protocol behind the fast-growing USD1 stablecoin.
The Basics of the Binance USD1 Farming Event
To start, let us get into what this initiative actually involves. Binance announced the USD1 holding rewards campaign on January 23, 2026, and the platform subsequently extended the event based on user participation and demand. The campaign distributes a total of $40 million in WLFI tokens, structured as four weekly drops of $10 million each, running through February 20, 2026, at 00:00 UTC.
Furthermore, the reward structure is intentionally straightforward. Users do not need to lock up their funds, navigate complex DeFi protocols, or jump through hoops to qualify. Instead, Binance calculates rewards using daily snapshots of eligible USD1 balances and then applies a seven-day average to determine each user’s weekly WLFI payout. Rewards land directly in each user’s Spot account every Friday, making the process as frictionless as possible.
According to the official Binance campaign announcement, the first distribution covered balances recorded between January 23 and January 30, with payouts arriving on February 2. Subsequent rounds followed on a weekly basis, maintaining a consistent schedule that builds trust and predictability for participants. (Source: Binance Official Announcement)
Which Accounts Qualify on Binance?
One of the most appealing aspects of this Binance campaign is how broadly it defines eligibility. Users can qualify by holding USD1 in their Spot Account, Funding Account, Margin Account, or their USDT-M Futures Account, where USD1 serves as collateral including in multi-asset mode.
Additionally, Binance offers a 1.2x multiplier for users who deploy USD1 as collateral in Margin or Futures trading. This particular bonus layer encourages active participation beyond passive holding, rewarding traders who put their stablecoin to work. Borrowed USD1 does not count toward the reward calculation, since Binance measures net assets only, which ensures that the rewards go to genuine holders rather than those gaming the system through leveraged positions.
There is one important note for prospective participants. Binance requires KYC verification and limits eligibility to certain jurisdictions. Users from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and several European countries cannot participate due to regulatory restrictions tied to Binance’s 2023 settlement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. (Source: Tekedia Analysis)
USD1 Supply Explosion Since the Campaign Launched
The numbers speak for themselves when examining what happened to USD1 the moment Binance kicked off this rewards event. Within just 30 hours of the campaign’s launch, USD1’s total circulating supply jumped by 1.33 billion tokens, pushing its market capitalization to approximately $4.47 billion. That is a staggering wave of inflows driven largely by users rotating from other stablecoins like USDT and USDC to collect WLFI farming rewards.
By the end of January 2026, USD1’s supply had surged by 1.76 billion tokens to reach approximately $4.9 billion in total circulation. Notably, this placed USD1 just $458 million short of cracking the top five stablecoins by market capitalization, a milestone that had previously seemed distant. The 24-hour trading volume for USD1 around this period also reached an impressive $5.85 billion, with holdings split roughly 46.1% on Ethereum and 44.5% on BNB Smart Chain. (Source: Blockchain News Flash)
Moreover, the annualized yield for the first week of the campaign reached approximately 16.2% on a base APR basis, with a boosted APR of 19.5% for those using the Margin and Futures multiplier. The second week adjusted to a 12.60% base APR and 15.13% boosted APR, reflecting the growing pool of participating balances. Compared to a previous high-yield event on Binance that capped holdings at $50,000 and only drove USD1 supply up by 118 million tokens, this uncapped structure proved dramatically more effective at pulling in capital.
The 235 Million WLFI Token Transfer to Binance
One particularly notable development in this story is the transfer of 235 million WLFI tokens from the World Liberty Financial Unlocked Treasury contract directly to Binance, a transaction valued at approximately $40.63 million and verified on-chain through Etherscan. On-chain analyst Yu Jin flagged this transaction shortly after it occurred, and it quickly became a talking point across crypto communities.
Interestingly, some analysts initially speculated that the transfer might trigger an additional airdrop beyond the original campaign scope. Others interpreted it as a routine funding mechanism to support the weekly WLFI distribution schedule already in place. As a result, the transfer momentarily created short-term sell pressure on WLFI as market participants reacted to the large supply movement. (Source: CoinMarketCap USD1 Updates)
Beyond the immediate price reaction, however, the transfer underscores just how tightly the operational relationship between Binance and World Liberty Financial has grown. The WLFI Unlocked Treasury contract coordinating directly with Binance to fund a major retail rewards campaign represents a level of institutional alignment that goes well beyond a simple token listing. It reflects a calculated strategy by both parties to accelerate USD1 adoption across a global user base through concrete financial incentives.
(Source: Phemex News)
Binance’s Deepening Role in the USD1 Ecosystem
Stepping back, the farming event fits into a much larger and more ambitious picture of how Binance has woven itself into the fabric of USD1’s growth story. As of early February 2026, Binance controls roughly 87% of USD1’s circulating supply, according to data cited by Arkham Intelligence and reported by Forbes. Between its own wallets and users’ accounts, Binance holds approximately $4.7 billion of USD1’s $5.4 billion total supply.
This level of concentration is extraordinary by any stablecoin standard. For context, no major stablecoin has historically been this concentrated at a single exchange. Binance itself addressed this, with a spokesperson stating: “It is not uncommon for large exchanges to hold large amounts of certain tokens.” Supporters of the arrangement point to it as a testament to the depth of user activity on the platform, while critics raise legitimate questions about liquidity concentration risk and governance. (Source: CCN Analysis)
The relationship between Binance and WLFI predates the farming event by several milestones. In May 2025, Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX made a landmark $2 billion investment into Binance, settled entirely in USD1. That transaction alone put USD1 on the map as a stablecoin capable of handling institutional-grade deals. Then, in December 2025, Binance converted all collateral assets backing Binance-Peg BUSD (B-Token) into USD1 at a 1:1 ratio, effectively making USD1 a structural part of Binance’s exchange infrastructure.
Additionally, Binance expanded USD1 trading pairs to include BNB/USD1, ETH/USD1, SOL/USD1, and more recently TRX/USD1, allowing users across the platform’s most active spot markets to trade using the stablecoin. VIP users at Level 2 through Level 9 also benefit from zero maker and taker fees on several key USD1 pairs, creating further incentive to integrate it into everyday trading activity. (Source: Business Wire)
Understanding USD1 and Its Backing
Before diving further, it helps to understand exactly what USD1 is and how it is structured. USD1 is a fully redeemable stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. The token is backed entirely by short-term U.S. government treasury bills, U.S. dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents, with custody managed through BitGo.
World Liberty Financial itself is a decentralized finance protocol and governance platform co-founded by members of the Trump family alongside real estate developer Steven Witkoff. The project launched in October 2024 and has since grown into one of the more politically prominent names in the crypto space. WLFI co-founder and CEO Zach Witkoff has described the stablecoin’s appeal succinctly: “We launched USD1 because traditional institutions needed a crypto-native but trusted instrument to reap the power of DeFi.” (Source: Business Wire WLFI Statement)
Consequently, USD1 occupies an interesting position in the stablecoin market. On one side, it carries the backing of a U.S. dollar reserve structure similar to USDC or USDT. On the other, it is intertwined with one of the most politically high-profile crypto projects in recent memory. The stablecoin’s rapid growth, from launch in March 2025 to over $5 billion in circulation by early 2026, reflects genuine market demand driven both by institutional deals and aggressive retail incentive programs like the Binance farming campaign.
Yield Farming as a Growth Tool for Stablecoins
The Binance USD1 farming event also offers a broader lesson about how large exchanges and token projects use yield farming to bootstrap adoption. Rather than relying solely on exchange listings or marketing campaigns, the strategy here is to make holding a specific asset financially rewarding enough that users actively seek it out and maintain balances over time.
For Binance specifically, encouraging users to hold USD1 rather than USDT or USDC creates sticky engagement. Once a user converts into USD1 to earn WLFI rewards, they are now integrated into that token’s ecosystem. Additionally, if they put that USD1 to work in Margin or Futures as collateral, Binance earns trading fee revenue from the added activity. The 1.2x reward multiplier for derivatives users is therefore not just a bonus for those users. It is also a strategic tool for Binance to deepen trading volume on its platform.
From WLFI’s perspective, distributing 235 million governance tokens to thousands of active Binance users creates a broad base of token holders with a direct stake in the ecosystem’s success. These newly rewarded holders become potential voters in governance decisions, potential users of WLFI Markets (the World Liberty Financial lending platform built on Dolomite), and potential buyers of future WLFI token distributions. In short, the farming event functions as a customer acquisition campaign measured in blockchain addresses rather than email sign-ups. (Source: The Block)
Market Reactions and Short-Term Volatility
As with any large treasury movement, the 235 million WLFI token transfer to Binance generated immediate market turbulence. Shortly after the transfer, WLFI experienced a period of elevated sell pressure, with some holders interpreting the large exchange deposit as a precursor to significant selling. WLFI’s token price has indeed seen substantial volatility over recent months, touching a low of approximately $0.09831, which represents a 66% decline from its all-time high.
Nevertheless, context matters here. The distributed WLFI tokens represent rewards for a specific, time-limited campaign rather than insider selling or a sudden change in project direction. Historically, token reward programs create short-term sell pressure as recipients liquidate rewards, followed by stabilization as the reward period ends and accumulated supply clears from the market. Whether WLFI follows that pattern remains to be seen, but the mechanics of the campaign suggest the distribution is transactional rather than fundamentally bearish.
On the USD1 side, the stablecoin has maintained its peg closely throughout the campaign, though there were brief moments where it traded at $1.0012 during peak inflow periods. Major players like Jump Trading and Auros Global reportedly deposited a combined 740 million USD1 to Binance following the campaign launch, which contributed to that minor peg deviation and created short-term arbitrage opportunities between decentralized exchanges and Binance. (Source: CryptoTimes)
The Broader WLFI Roadmap in 2026
Understanding this farming event also requires looking at where WLFI is headed more broadly. The project has an ambitious 2026 roadmap that extends well beyond stablecoin distribution. World Liberty Financial launched WLFI Markets in January 2026, a decentralized lending and borrowing platform built on Dolomite’s established DeFi infrastructure. This platform supports USD1, USDC, USDT, wrapped Bitcoin, and WLFI as collateral, with initial USD1 borrowing rates around 0.83% and lending rates at 0.08%.
Furthermore, WLFI is in the process of applying for a national trust bank charter through WLTC Holdings LLC, a filing submitted to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Regulatory approval would place USD1’s issuance, redemption, and custody under federal banking oversight, a development that would significantly boost the stablecoin’s credibility with institutional users who require regulatory clarity before committing capital.
Beyond financial infrastructure, WLFI plans to launch a debit card pilot program in Q1 2026, enabling users to spend USD1 and crypto assets in everyday transactions. A mobile application designed for non-crypto-native users is also in development, aimed at bringing DeFi concepts to a mainstream audience through a simplified, app-based interface. Taken together, these developments show that the Binance farming event is one piece of a much larger growth strategy for the WLFI ecosystem. (Source: CoinMarketCap WLFI Updates)
Regulatory and Political Context
Naturally, any discussion of Binance and WLFI in 2026 must acknowledge the political and regulatory backdrop. WLFI’s co-founders include members of the Trump family, and the project has been described as inspired by President Donald J. Trump’s vision for crypto-forward financial policy. Senator Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers have publicly raised concerns about conflicts of interest, particularly around a reported $500 million stake sold to UAE royal family affiliates, which is now the subject of a formal Congressional investigation.
Separately, former President Trump’s October 2025 pardon of Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has attracted scrutiny from observers who note the timing of Binance’s subsequent deepening of its relationship with WLFI. Critics have drawn attention to the overlapping legal representation between parties involved in the pardon process and WLFI’s founding team. However, to date no regulatory body has announced a formal investigation into the Binance-WLFI commercial relationship itself, and both companies have denied any improper coordination. (Source: CoinDesk)
Regardless of where one lands on the political dynamics, they add a layer of public scrutiny to every move Binance makes with USD1. The exchange’s decision to host the largest USD1 farming campaign in the stablecoin’s short history therefore carries weight that extends beyond standard promotional economics. It is a statement about Binance’s willingness to stake significant institutional resources and platform credibility on the continued growth of the WLFI ecosystem.
A Significant Moment for Stablecoin Incentive Programs
Putting it all together, the Binance USD1 WLFI farming event stands out as one of the most consequential stablecoin incentive programs in recent crypto history. A pool of 235 million WLFI tokens worth $40 million, distributed weekly to any eligible holder of USD1 across four account types, generated a supply explosion of over 1.76 billion USD1 tokens in the campaign’s opening days alone. The results far exceeded previous comparable campaigns, demonstrating that uncapped yield farming with a politically prominent and institutionally backed stablecoin can move markets in ways that smaller campaigns simply cannot.
Moreover, for Binance, the event serves as both a revenue driver and a relationship-strengthening mechanism with one of the most watched DeFi projects in the current market cycle. For WLFI and USD1, the campaign has meaningfully accelerated the stablecoin’s march toward the top five by market capitalization, created a wide new distribution of WLFI governance token holders, and established Binance as the undisputed center of the USD1 universe.
Users who still fall within eligible jurisdictions and have not yet participated should take note of the remaining campaign timeline and account types that qualify. Binance continues to calculate daily balance snapshots and distribute rewards on its established weekly Friday schedule. Given the variable APR structure, the reward rate shifts each week depending on total participating balances, so getting in earlier in any remaining distribution window offers a more favorable yield-to-balance ratio.
(Source: MEXC Campaign Overview)
External Sources and References:
For readers who want to explore the data and developments covered in this article further, the following sources provide direct access to primary and analytical reporting:
- Binance Official Campaign Announcement: https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/detail/fdcb95e74a1645729a1b8923a5e4187f
- Blockchain News Flash Report on USD1 Supply Surge: https://blockchain.news/flashnews/binance-usd1-airdrop-fuels-1-76b-supply-surge
- CoinMarketCap USD1 Latest Updates: https://coinmarketcap.com/cmc-ai/usd1/latest-updates/
- Tekedia: Binance and WLFI Push for USD1 Growth: https://www.tekedia.com/binance-and-world-liberty-financial-push-for-usd1-stablecoin-adoption-and-growth/
- Business Wire: Binance Adds Major USD1 Trading Pairs: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251211778880/en/Binance-Adds-Major-USD1-Trading-Pairs-Will-Convert-BUSD-Collateral-to-World-Liberty-Financials-Stablecoin-in-Largest-Exchange-Integration-Yet
- The Block: Binance Elevates USD1 Trading Pairs: https://www.theblock.co/post/382240/binance-elevates-trump-backed-world-libertys-stablecoin-by-adding-usd1-trading-pairs
- CoinDesk: Binance Expands Trump-Linked WLFI Stablecoin: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/12/11/binance-expands-trump-linked-wlfi-s-stablecoin-for-trading-collateral-on-platform/
- CCN: Binance Controls USD1 Supply Analysis: https://www.ccn.com/news/crypto/binance-controlls-all-usd1-critics-raise-alarm/
- CryptoTimes: Binance Holds 87% of USD1: https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/02/10/binance-holds-87-of-trump-linked-usd1-stablecoin/
- Phemex News: World Liberty Finance Moves $40M WLFI: https://phemex.com/news/article/world-liberty-finance-transfers-40m-in-wlfi-tokens-to-binance-55902
- Stablecoin Insider: Binance Boosts USD1 with New Promotions: https://stablecoininsider.org/binance-boosts-usd1-stablecoin/
- MEXC Campaign Overview: https://www.mexc.com/news/543253
