WLFI Partners With Spacecoin to Explore Satellite DeFi
The partnership explores delivering decentralized finance and stablecoin payments via satellite-based internet to underserved regions worldwide.
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the decentralized finance project associated with the family of U.S. President Donald Trump, has partnered with satellite startup Spacecoin to examine how blockchain-based financial services could function over space-powered internet infrastructure. The collaboration aims to merge decentralized finance with decentralized connectivity, targeting regions where traditional banking systems and broadband access remain scarce or unreliable.
Announced in a Jan. 22 blog post, the partnership includes a token swap between the two projects, though neither side disclosed financial terms. At its core, the initiative is framed as an experiment in expanding digital and financial inclusion by combining satellite connectivity with onchain payments and settlement tools.
Bridging DeFi and Satellite Internet
Spacecoin is building what it describes as a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) using a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The company recently launched three satellites into orbit, marking an early step toward providing permissionless internet access without reliance on centralized telecom operators or government-controlled infrastructure.
The concept mirrors a growing trend in crypto and Web3: pairing blockchain networks with real-world infrastructure to extend services beyond traditional digital environments. In Spacecoin’s case, the goal is to enable people in remote or underserved communities to get online even where fiber networks and mobile broadband are unavailable.
However, connectivity alone is not enough to create meaningful participation in the digital economy. As Spacecoin emphasizes, internet access must be paired with usable financial tools that allow individuals to transact, save, and settle value without intermediaries.
“True digital freedom also requires access to robust, fair and open financial services,” said Tae Oh, founder of Spacecoin, in the announcement.
World Liberty Financial’s Role
WLFI enters the partnership as the financial layer, providing decentralized tools that allow users to send, receive, and settle payments once they are connected. The protocol has positioned itself around real-world usability rather than purely speculative DeFi activity, with a particular emphasis on payments and settlement in environments where traditional financial rails fall short.
The collaboration follows a notable regulatory move by the Trump-linked project. Just weeks earlier, WLFI disclosed that its subsidiary, World Liberty Trust Company, had applied for a national trust charter with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). While approval is not guaranteed, the application signals an ambition to operate within regulated frameworks while expanding onchain financial services.
USD1 Stablecoin Targets Real-World Payments
A central pillar of WLFI’s strategy is USD1, its dollar-pegged stablecoin launched last year. According to the project, USD1 is designed to function as a practical settlement asset in situations where banking infrastructure is unreliable or nonexistent—conditions common in rural areas, developing economies, and regions affected by conflict or natural disasters.
WLFI co-founder Zak Folkman has previously said the initiative aligns with the protocol’s broader focus on real-world payments and settlement, particularly in underserved areas. Rather than competing solely within crypto-native ecosystems, WLFI is attempting to position USD1 as a bridge between onchain finance and everyday economic activity.
That strategy appears to be gaining traction. USD1’s market capitalization has grown to more than $4 billion, placing it among the larger stablecoins currently in circulation. The growth underscores continued demand for dollar-backed digital assets, especially for cross-border transfers and settlement.
Expanding Beyond Payments
WLFI has also broadened its product suite beyond simple transfers. To support additional use cases, the company launched World Liberty Markets, a platform offering crypto lending and borrowing services. Within this ecosystem, USD1 is promoted as a settlement asset for both onchain and offchain activity, reinforcing its role as a foundational component of the protocol.
This expansion reflects a wider trend in DeFi toward multi-functional stablecoins that serve as collateral, settlement layers, and liquidity instruments simultaneously.
International Outreach and Sovereign Engagement
Alongside its technical expansion, World Liberty Financial has stepped up its international outreach. Earlier this month, Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding with a World Liberty affiliate to explore potential applications of USD1 in payments and remittances.
The agreement marked one of the first known cases of a sovereign entity formally engaging with the Trump-linked protocol. While details remain limited, the move highlights growing interest among governments in leveraging blockchain-based payment rails to reduce friction in cross-border transfers and domestic settlement.
Combined with the Spacecoin partnership, the Pakistan memorandum underscores WLFI’s intent to position itself as a global payments infrastructure, not merely a U.S.-centric DeFi project.
Why Satellite-Based DeFi Matters
The idea of running decentralized finance over satellite networks may sound futuristic, but it addresses a tangible problem: billions of people still lack reliable internet or banking access. In many regions, financial exclusion is tightly linked to connectivity gaps, creating a cycle where communities remain cut off from both digital services and global markets.
By pairing LEO satellite internet with stablecoin-based payments, the WLFI–Spacecoin collaboration explores a model where users can bypass both traditional banks and centralized telecom providers. If successful, such systems could enable:
- Cross-border payments without correspondent banks
- Remittances with lower fees and faster settlement
- Access to DeFi tools in areas beyond terrestrial networks
While the partnership remains at an exploratory stage, it reflects a broader ambition within crypto to extend decentralized systems into physical infrastructure and real-world use cases.
A Convergence of Politics, Crypto, and Infrastructure
The involvement of a Trump-linked protocol adds a political dimension to the initiative, particularly as regulatory scrutiny of stablecoins and DeFi continues to intensify in the United States. At the same time, Spacecoin’s DePIN model aligns with a growing belief that decentralization must extend beyond software to include hardware and connectivity.
Whether satellite-powered DeFi can scale remains an open question. Launching and maintaining satellite constellations is capital-intensive, and regulatory hurdles around spectrum use and financial compliance are significant. Still, the partnership highlights an emerging narrative in crypto: that the next phase of adoption may depend less on trading and more on solving fundamental access problems.
As blockchain projects increasingly look beyond screens and into orbit, the convergence of space infrastructure and decentralized finance may become less of a thought experiment—and more of a practical pathway toward global financial inclusion.
