Fight night at the White House came with the biggest bonus pool in UFC history. Part of it did not pay out in dollars.
It paid out in a crypto token tied to the Trump family. That is the part investors should watch.
UFC Freedom 250 ran Sunday on the South Lawn of the White House. A live fight on the White House lawn had never happened before.
The event drew huge attention well before the crypto news broke.
UFC President Dana White hosted the card. He announced the crypto deal at a press conference at the Lincoln Memorial.
A stablecoin is a crypto token built to hold a steady value. It is usually pegged one-to-one with the dollar.
The one in the spotlight is USD1. It is run by World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by President Trump and his sons.
The family of top adviser Steve Witkoff is involved too.
World Liberty added $250,000 to the fighter bonuses in USD1, while Crypto.com had already put up $1 million in CRO tokens.
Both payouts went to the night's top performers in the cage.
Add it all up and the pool hit about $1.65 million. That is a record for UFC payouts.
The fights delivered too. Justin Gaethje upset Ilia Topuria by TKO for the lightweight title, and Ciryl Gane stopped Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight belt.
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The bonuses were a marketing moment, but the real goal is getting USD1 into everyday use.
Stablecoins have become one of the hottest corners of crypto. Big names are racing to get their tokens used for real payments.
For World Liberty, a White House stage is free promotion no rival can match.
World Liberty has applied to open a national trust bank. The bank would issue and hold stablecoins.
Paying fighters live on the White House lawn is one loud way to show off the token. Millions of fans saw USD1 in action without ever opening an app.
"A victory in Washington should mean money in your pocket immediately, not when the bank opens," said Zach Witkoff, the company's co-founder and CEO.
The setup has drawn heavy criticism. Reports from the Wall Street Journal and Reuters say the Trump family keeps 75% of the net proceeds from token sales.
They also pocket a slice of the stablecoin returns.
That puts a sitting president's family on both sides of a payment made on government grounds. Critics say it blurs the line between public office and private profit.
Supporters counter that fast, low-cost payouts are exactly what crypto was built for.
In the cage, the night ended with knockouts. The questions about who profits did not.
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