UFC announced that World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture tied to President Donald Trump's family and the family of Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, will serve as official partner of UFC Freedom 250 and presenting partner of a new $250,000 Performance of the Night bonus pool.
- The event is scheduled for Sunday, June 14, on the South Lawn of the White House, the same day as Trump's birthday, according to a Combat Press report.
The bonus pool puts USD1, World Liberty's dollar-backed stablecoin, directly into fighter payouts at one of the most visible sports events ever staged on White House grounds.
"We're proud to celebrate a historic night for UFC and the United States," Zach Witkoff, co-founder and chief executive of World Liberty Financial, said.
Zach Witkoff
The USD1 pool is separate from another crypto bonus program at the event. UFC and Crypto.com, a crypto exchange and long-time UFC sponsor, previously announced a $1 million Fight of the Night bonus pool paid in CRO, the native token of the Cronos ecosystem.
- World Liberty was co-founded in 2024 by Trump family members and the Witkoff sons.
- But the venture has drawn legal and political scrutiny. Justin Sun, TRON founder and early buyer of World Liberty's governance token, sued the company this year over frozen WLFI tokens, while World Liberty countersued him for defamation.
- USD1 is separate from that governance token. It is designed as a stablecoin, meaning it is supposed to hold a one-to-one value with the U.S. dollar through dollar reserves.
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