UFC Says White House Fighters Get $250,000 Bonuses in Corruption Crypto
The UFC said on Friday that some fighters at its White House event on 14 June will receive bonuses in corruption-linked World Liberty Financial stablecoins. The payment plan ties a fight card on White House grounds to a Trump family cryptocurrency venture that the company says is issuing USD1 tokens. Donald Trump’s financial disclosure form lists his holdings in World Liberty Financial at over $50m.
World Liberty Financial and the UFC
World Liberty Financial said it was creating a bonus pool for the event, and the UFC later said the company would be the presenting partner of a new $250,000 Performance of the Night bonus. Zach Witkoff, the company’s CEO, said, “We believe this is the future of finance, and we’re excited to partner with UFC,” and said UFC has done more than any organization to modernize the business of sports.
The company’s USD1 stablecoins are separate from its governance tokens and are tradable digital assets backed by dollar reserves. World Liberty Financial is a Delaware-based venture co-founded in 2024 by Donald Trump and his sons alongside the Witkoff sons, and Donald Trump Sr was publicly listed by the company as its Chief Crypto Advocate.
Trump Family Venture
World Liberty Financial was listed as an official sponsor of UFC Freedom 250 on Wednesday 10 June, before the UFC first announced on Thursday that it would distribute fighter bonuses in a separate cryptocurrency called CRO. On Friday at 9.30pm, the UFC issued a press release saying World Liberty Financial would instead be the presenting partner of the new bonus, a shift that put the company’s stablecoin at the center of the event’s payout plan.
World Liberty Financial has also applied for a banking license from the Office of Comptroller of the Currency and has faced litigation with Justin Sun over frozen tokens and defamation claims. The company’s sponsor role, and the White House setting for the event, place the payment announcement inside a wider dispute over whether Trump family crypto ventures should sit so close to presidential power.
White House Response
Davis Ingle, the White House spokesman, said, “The Fake News’ continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public’s distrust in what they read.” The White House event is scheduled for Sunday on the south White House lawn, and the bonus structure now gives fighters a payment path that runs through a Trump family business rather than a standard fight-night purse.
