World Liberty Trust Co., a company associated with World Liberty Financial Inc., which is the Trump family's crypto venture, has received preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). This conditional approval, issued on Friday, indicates that World Liberty Trust Co.'s proposal meets certain regulatory and policy requirements. The company states that an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and his family members owns 38% of World Liberty Financial.
This charter is significant as it will enable World Liberty to issue its own stablecoins, specifically USD1, and manage the underlying reserve assets in-house, rather than relying on third-party services like BitGo. The USD1 stablecoin has seen rapid growth, with over $4 billion in circulation, making it the fourth largest stablecoin by market capitalization. The charter will also allow the trust bank to hold assets on behalf of clients and settle payments more quickly, though it does not permit traditional deposit-taking or lending.
The approval has drawn strong criticism, particularly from Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren, who labeled the decision as the "most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen." Critics argue that the approval poses insurmountable conflicts of interest, especially given President Trump's financial stake in the company. For instance, the Trump family has reportedly earned over $1.6 billion from their crypto ventures, including approximately $50 million from the USD1 stablecoin by June 2026. Prior to starting operations, World Liberty Trust must fulfill several conditions, including maintaining a minimum of $20 million in Tier 1 capital and ensuring $10 million or more in eligible liquid assets.
