PALM BEACH, FL — Apex Group, a global financial services provider with more than $3.5 trillion in assets under management, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency firm announced on Wednesday at the World Freedom Forum at Mar-a-Lago that it will pilot the use of stablecoins in traditional fund operations.
The partnership centers around WLFI’s $1 stablecoin, which Apex will test as a payment method for subscriptions, redemptions and distributions within its tokenized fund ecosystem, Apex said in a press release. Apex, which provides administrative and operational services to a broad client base including hedge funds, pension funds, banks and family offices, said it aims to increase settlement speed and reduce operating expenses for institutional clients.
In his opening speech at the forum, Zach Witkoff, co-founder and CEO of World Liberty, called $1 infrastructure the future financial services ecosystem.
The company has become increasingly active in the digital asset space, using blockchain to tokenize some of the funds it serves. Tokenizing funds or issuing shares on a blockchain rail can help companies simplify reporting, lower fees and reach a wider investor base.
In May, Apex deepened its focus on blockchain by acquiring Tokeny, a Luxembourg-based company known for building infrastructure to issue and manage on-chain real-world assets (RWA). It also acquired London-based Globacap, an investment platform with a U.S.-registered broker-dealer, expanding Apex’s ability to tokenize regulated securities in the U.S., where interest in blockchain-based RWAs is growing among U.S. asset managers.
Apex CEO Peter Hughes said in a statement that customers “increasingly expect blockchain-based solutions to deliver tangible benefits and cost savings.”
As part of the WLFI collaboration, Apex will also explore offering WLFI tokenized assets (such as real estate and infrastructure) on London Stock Exchange Group’s (LSEG) digital market infrastructure platform, subject to regulatory approval. WLFI said it plans to launch a mobile app that will connect traditional bank accounts with digital asset wallets and enable users to access these tokenized assets.
