On January 23, 2026, Eric Trump made a high-profile announcement on social media: the market value of the dollar token USD1, backed by his family, has surpassed that of PayPal's digital dollar PYUSD. This simple statement of "surpassing" has propelled an otherwise obscure dollar token into a position of direct confrontation with traditional fintech giants. Backed by the political aura of a former White House family and competing against global payment giants' digital dollar products, this is not just a product competition but is quickly interpreted as the starting point of a new narrative of "digital dollar hegemony"—the core question remains whether USD1, supported by a political family brand, or PYUSD, with its deep compliance framework, will gain the upper hand in the global discourse on digital dollars.
From the White House Family to the New Battlefield of Dollar Tokens
● The political aura brings both exposure and controversy. As the second son of a former U.S. president, Eric Trump's every move naturally garners high attention. When he publicly endorsed USD1, the token was immediately highlighted among numerous dollar tokens, becoming a focal point of support and skepticism. On one hand, supporters see it as a signal of the "White House family's entry into on-chain dollars"; on the other hand, opponents worry that the deep binding of political capital and financial products could amplify market sentiment and polarization risks.
● The statement of "building the future global currency" reveals a clear narrative ambition. In his latest remarks, Eric Trump emphasized that this is not just about crypto assets, but about the layout of "building the future global currency." From a rhetorical standpoint, he attempts to elevate USD1 from an ordinary dollar token to a part of the new global currency system puzzle, positioning himself in the main narrative of "rewriting the rules of currency," while intentionally blurring the boundaries between traditional sovereign currencies and on-chain dollar tokens.
● Compared to traditional fintech giants like PayPal, the dimensions of the game have been reshaped. When PayPal launched PYUSD, the external evaluation focused more on payment experience, compliance capabilities, and global merchant networks; however, USD1 is backed by a political family rather than Wall Street or Silicon Valley giants, making the competition not just "tech company vs. tech company," but "political family brand vs. fintech system," prompting the market to rethink who is qualified to tell the story in the digital dollar arena.
● The political attributes also amplify regulatory and geopolitical associations. Unlike traditional fintech products, the dollar token involving a former White House family is inherently more sensitive in the eyes of regulators both domestically and abroad. Whether it is the U.S. election cycle, Congress's attitude towards crypto assets, or other countries' wariness of "political binding of finance," all may be projected onto USD1, but how all this will specifically reflect in regulatory terms and market access remains uncertain.
USD1 vs. PYUSD:…
● Eric Trump's announcement that USD1's market value has surpassed PYUSD is itself a carefully chosen narrative node. Although there is still a lack of authoritative specific market value data and precise rankings, the word "surpass" is enough to create a symbolic victory in public opinion, shaping USD1 as a new flagbearer challenging the existing landscape. For many ordinary users, this node feels more like the starting gun of a discourse battle over "who represents the new digital dollar," rather than just a change in rankings.
● PYUSD, backed by PayPal, enjoys first-mover advantages in compliance, payment networks, and branding. PayPal has long been deeply involved in the global payment industry, accumulating a vast merchant system and compliance experience, embedding PYUSD into its existing payment network upon launch. From licensing arrangements to anti-money laundering frameworks and consumer protection mechanisms, PYUSD naturally possesses a compliance shell familiar to traditional financial regulators, and relies on PayPal's brand trust to gain foundational trust among mainstream users.
● USD1 is issued by World Liberty Financial, positioning itself more as a new symbol of the "digitalization narrative of the dollar." Public information shows that this issuing entity attempts to package USD1 as a dollar token with more political symbolism and connotations of "freedom currency," hoping to seize a place in the discussion of "decentralized dollars" and "grassroots digital dollars." Unlike the steady advancement of fintech giants, USD1 resembles a narrative experiment led by political discourse, aiming to position itself in the wave of dollar digitalization.
● The change in market value rankings reflects the competition for dominance over "who represents the grassroots digital dollar." On the surface, it appears to be a tug-of-war over popularity and scale between two dollar tokens; at a deeper level, it is a struggle over "who will represent the privately issued digital dollar version of the U.S." Is it the payment giant focusing on compliance and payment scenarios, or the political family and new financial institutions driven by narrative and discourse power? This competition may influence the global market's long-term cognitive structure regarding "unofficial digital dollars."
Ondo's Surge and New Gold Highs:…
● While USD1 and PYUSD are entangled, the demand for on-chain dollar assets is also rapidly heating up. According to public reports, the total locked value of the tokenized U.S. Treasury platform Ondo Finance has surpassed $2.5 billion, indicating that institutions and high-net-worth funds are accelerating the movement of dollar assets onto the chain. This rapid increase in scale is not only a milestone in the development of a single platform but also an important signal that "on-chain U.S. Treasuries" are transitioning from concept to actual allocation tools.
● At the same time, traditional safe-haven assets are also reaching new heights. According to data from Jinse Finance, the spot gold price has reached $4,980 per ounce, approaching a psychological new high. In both online and offline worlds, gold and on-chain dollar assets are heating up simultaneously, presenting a rare resonant picture: investors are chasing a century-old safe-haven anchor while pursuing dollar interest rates and liquidity through tokenized products. This dual allocation reflects a deep anxiety about future macro uncertainties.
● Institutions and high-net-worth funds are using tools like tokenized U.S. Treasuries and gold to hedge against fiat currency credit and inflation concerns. On-chain U.S. Treasuries allow dollar interest rates to more directly reach crypto-native funding pools, while the price surge in gold reflects ongoing expectations of continued depreciation of traditional fiat currency credit. The popularity of these two asset classes means that the definition of "safe assets" is expanding: it is no longer just physical gold and offline government bonds; tokenized assets and dollar tokens are also gradually being included in the toolbox for hedging against inflation and systemic risks.
● In this global wave of searching for "new dollar carriers," the rise of USD1 has gained comparative coordinates. Whether it is on-chain U.S. Treasuries on Ondo or other dollar tokens, they all point to a trend: the market hopes to find a more efficient, transparent, and easily cross-border flowing carrier within the dollar system. If USD1 wants to occupy a place in this framework, it must prove itself not only as a product of political narrative but also capable of complementing on-chain interest rate products; otherwise, it will merely be a fleeting emotional wave in the digital dollar ecosystem.
From CZ's Regret to Long-Term Holding:…
● Regulatory shadows loom over the global crypto business landscape. Former Binance head CZ candidly stated that if he could do it all over again, he would "block U.S. users from day one." This reflective statement reflects the profound impact of the U.S. regulatory environment on global crypto businesses—any business touching dollars and U.S. users will eventually face complex and high-risk compliance scrutiny, and a slight misstep could lead to heavy costs.
● At the Davos Forum, CZ discussed his strategy of choosing to hold BTC and BNC long-term, sending another signal: leading players are shifting their focus from broad expansion to asset allocation and compliance survival. Unlike the early model of "land grabbing" and rushing wherever there are users, today's industry leaders emphasize selecting targets, reducing regulatory exposure, and using long-term holdings of quality assets to hedge against policy and market volatility. This shift in thinking is reshaping the entire industry's risk appetite.
● For dollar token projects represented by USD1, how to balance the U.S. market and global layout will be a matter of life and death. On one hand, to become the "global digital dollar," it cannot avoid direct or indirect connections with the U.S. financial system; on the other hand, U.S. regulatory scrutiny of dollar tokens is becoming increasingly stringent, and any project with a high degree of political and financial binding may be subject to heightened scrutiny. In this high-pressure environment, recklessly emphasizing political color may trigger more caution or even rejection outside the U.S.
● The U.S. regulatory attitude is, in effect, delineating the qualification boundaries for "who can create a global dollar token." Whether it is PYUSD, centered on compliant payments, or USD1, flying the flag of political narrative, both must operate within a framework acceptable to U.S. regulators. Whoever possesses compliant and transparent reserve proof, a clear governance structure, and traceable cross-border flow paths will have a better chance of obtaining a long-term pass; conversely, no matter how strong the brand or background, it is difficult to break through the ceiling set by regulation.
Rewriting the Global Currency Narrative: Politics,…
● When USD1, backed by the Trump family, PYUSD issued by PayPal, and Ondo's tokenized U.S. Treasuries appear simultaneously, a new ecology intertwining "politics + technology + on-chain dollar interest rates" is taking shape. On one end, the former White House family attempts to tell the political story of "future global currency" through dollar tokens; on the other end, fintech giants extend traditional dollar power using payment networks and compliance frameworks; in the middle, infrastructures like Ondo directly bring the U.S. interest rate curve onto the chain through tokenized U.S. Treasuries, collectively forming a new digital dollar sample library.
● Products like tokenized U.S. Treasuries provide a new interest rate carrier for dollar assets, and there is both complementarity and potential competition between them and dollar tokens like USD1. The complementarity lies in the fact that dollar tokens can assume payment and liquidity functions, while tokenized U.S. Treasuries provide yield and safety anchors; the combination can form a "chain-based dollar demand deposit + time deposit" structure. The competition lies in the fact that some high-yield, highly liquid U.S. Treasury tokens may encroach on the traditional dollar token's role in value storage and risk aversion, forcing the latter to enhance its asset quality and transparency.
● As the traditional dollar system spills over onto the chain, a new question arises: who will control the narrative rights over exchange rates, interest rates, and settlement rights? The expansion of on-chain dollar tokens and U.S. Treasury tokens allows the influence of the dollar to penetrate into a broader decentralized network, but this does not mean that control is equally dispersed. Whether it is U.S. regulators, Wall Street institutions, tech giants, or emerging political-financial alliances that will control the settings of these key parameters will determine the power structure in the digital dollar era and the strength of the "sovereignty sense" of various dollar tokens.
● Therefore, the new hegemonic competition at the level of digital dollars is no longer limited to payment experience or transaction fees but has evolved into a triple game of narrative, compliance, and asset quality. On one hand, who can tell a more compelling "global currency" story; on the other hand, who has a more solid compliance foundation and regulatory coordination capability; and more critically, who is behind the most secure, transparent, and yield-generating dollar asset portfolio. The intertwining of these three lines constitutes the real battlefield of the competition between USD1 and PYUSD, as well as the broader race among dollar tokens.
Can USD1 Support the "Future Global Dollar"?
The claim that USD1's market value has surpassed PYUSD carries complex implications in terms of political symbolism, market perception, and narrative: on one hand, it proves that the political family aura still has mobilization power in the digital currency era, capable of attracting global attention in a short time; on the other hand, it also exposes the market's tendency to be driven by symbolic narratives like "surpassing" and "first" in the absence of complete information, thereby overlooking the critical differences in underlying assets and institutional design. For some participants, this feels more like a public opinion experiment about "who can represent the new digital dollar," rather than a definitive shaping of the landscape.
From the perspective of information disclosure, the market still lacks sufficient transparency regarding USD1: there are significant gaps in both reserve audit situations and complete historical data. A temporary lead in market value does not equate to a victory in institutional robustness, asset security, and cross-cycle resilience. In contrast, products like PYUSD issued by traditional fintech giants, while lacking the narrative appeal of political family stories, have a longer path of accumulation in compliance and infrastructure. This "invisible gap in underlying capabilities" is often only collectively recognized during times of crisis.
Looking ahead, the competition for digital dollar hegemony will unfold along at least three main lines: first, the direction of U.S. regulation will determine which models can gain long-term tolerance and even support, and which will be gradually marginalized; second, whether institutional funds continue to embrace on-chain dollar assets and tokenized U.S. Treasuries will determine whether the entire ecosystem's capital depth and interest rate pricing power can truly shift onto the chain; third, whether the political family aura can remain effective under multiple election cycles and global public opinion shocks—whether it translates into short-term traffic or long-term trust remains to be seen.
In this early stage, which is far from settled, the struggle for dominance in the digital dollar arena is still in its prologue rather than its conclusion. For investors, rather than getting caught up in short-term symbols like "market value surpassing" or "ranking rising," it is better to focus more on the quality of underlying assets, reserve transparency, and compliance structure. Ultimately, what can withstand regulatory and cyclical tests will not just be the token that tells the best story, but the one that can provide verifiable answers in terms of transparency, compliance, and asset security.
Join our community to discuss and become stronger together!
Official Telegram community: https://t.me/aicoincn
AiCoin Chinese Twitter: https://x.com/AiCoinzh
OKX Welfare Group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=l61eM4owQ
Binance Welfare Group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=ynr7d1P6Z
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
