DWF Labs-backed Falcon Finance claims $10 million investment from Trump’s World Liberty Financial

Falcon Finance claims to have secured a $10 million "initial" strategic investment from the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial DeFi project to advance cross-platform stablecoin development.

Falcon Finance is behind the Falcon USD (USDf) stablecoin, a synthetic dollar protocol that accepts a range of collateral, managed under a risk-adjusted overcollateralization model. USDf has a market capitalization of $1.175 billion, according to CoinGecko data.

World Liberty Financial also operates the USD1 stablecoin redeemable on a 1:1 basis for U.S. dollars and backed by U.S. government money market funds, U.S. dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents. The USD1 market cap currently stands at $2.19 billion.

The funding will accelerate Falcon's technical integrations, with a focus on shared liquidity, multi-chain compatibility, and smart contract modules enabling smooth conversions between USDf and USD1, according to a press release on Wednesday. USD1 is also being used as collateral on the platform.

"We are excited to collaborate with WLFI to redefine digital dollar solutions," Falcon Finance Managing Partner Andrei Grachev said. "This investment validates our approach to creating more efficient on-chain dollar instruments for institutional users, and WLFI's distribution network will help accelerate adoption of our technology."

"This strategic partnership with Falcon Finance represents a significant step forward in our mission to build a comprehensive DeFi ecosystem," World Liberty Financial co-founder Zak Folkman added in the release. "By combining Falcon's innovative collateralization model with our fiat-backed approach, we are creating a more robust and flexible digital dollar infrastructure that will meet the diverse needs of both retail and institutional users across the global market."

DWF Labs co-founder Andrei Grachev is also a co-founder of Falcon Finance, which was incubated by the controversial crypto investment and market-making firm and operates as a DWF Labs–backed product. Launched in February, the USDf stablecoin is directly tied to DWF Labs' capital and operations infrastructure.

The Block reached out to World Liberty Financial for comment.

DWF Labs' origin story

DWF Labs emerged in 2022 as the public face of Digital Wave Finance, a Swiss high-frequency trading firm founded in 2018 by Marco and Remo Schweizer and Michael Rendchen. In 2022, Andrei Grachev — who had previously arranged preferential trading deals for the firm while CEO of Huobi Russia — joined forces with them to co-found DWF Labs. Their operations expanded through entities like VRM Trade and Darley Technologies, focusing on aggressive trading, incubating projects, and launching initiatives such as the Black Ocean dark pool. In 2023, DWF Labs gained broad attention for investing hundreds of millions across the crypto ecosystem, often through structured OTC deals.

The firm has been especially active in Asia and the Middle East, though its opaque structure and links to price management strategies have drawn scrutiny. DWF Labs is not a licensed financial institution in most jurisdictions and typically conducts its operations through entities based in the British Virgin Islands and Singapore.

Grachev remains a central figure, while founding partner Eugene Ng was dismissed in 2024 following serious misconduct allegations.

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