Regulation
OCC Grants World Liberty Financial Preliminary Charter for $4B USD1 Stablecoin
15 Aug 2026, 05:25
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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has preliminarily approved a national trust bank tied to President Trump's family, letting World Liberty Financial bring its roughly $4 billion USD1 stablecoin in-house.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted preliminary approval for a national trust bank tied to President Donald Trump's family, clearing the way for World Liberty Financial to directly issue and manage reserves for its roughly $4 billion USD1 stablecoin rather than relying on a third-party issuer. World Liberty Trust Company would take over issuance and reserve custody of USD1 from BitGo, while also offering digital asset custody and stablecoin conversion services to institutional clients. The approval is conditional, and the bank cannot begin operating until it satisfies the OCC's pre-opening requirements.
The decision brings federal banking oversight closer to one of the Trump family's most valuable crypto ventures. World Liberty Financial has disclosed that DT Marks DEFI LLC, an entity majority-owned by President Trump, owns about 38% of the holding company controlling World Liberty, with DT Marks DEFI and Trump family members together holding 22.5 billion WLFI tokens. A separate Trump-linked entity, DT Marks SC LLC, is an indirect investor in the proposed bank and signed commitments with the OCC restricting its ability to influence the institution, an agreement signed by Eric Trump in his capacity as president of DT Marks SC.
USD1 has grown to roughly $4 billion in market capitalization since launching in March 2025, making it the fifth-largest stablecoin and representing about 1.3% of the roughly $308 billion global stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama data. Once the new bank is established, World Liberty Trust plans to acquire USD1's reserve assets and associated liabilities from BitGo and become the stablecoin's issuer nationwide, with the OCC pointing to the GENIUS Act as explicitly permitting uninsured national banks to act as qualified payment stablecoin issuers.
The application drew objections tied to World Liberty's political connections. The OCC said four commenters raised potential conflicts involving Trump and his family, World Liberty co-founders Zach and Alex Witkoff, sons of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and UAE investors in the firm, with three arguing the company could receive favorable treatment since the Comptroller of the Currency is a presidential appointee. The regulator rejected that argument, saying career staff reviewed the application and would supervise the bank going forward. Approval conditions include maintaining at least $20 million of Tier 1 capital, holding liquid assets sufficient to cover 180 days of operating expenses, and seeking prior approval for major business changes during its first three years.
The timing may complicate a separate legislative priority. The CLARITY Act, which would establish a broad US regulatory framework for digital assets, has stalled in the Senate, where ethics provisions tied to Trump's crypto interests remain a key obstacle to securing the 60 votes needed for passage. Trump disclosed more than $1.4 billion in income from his family's crypto ventures in 2025, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has filed for a cloture vote on September 15, giving the bill a narrow path forward after the August recess.
The decision brings federal banking oversight closer to one of the Trump family's most valuable crypto ventures. World Liberty Financial has disclosed that DT Marks DEFI LLC, an entity majority-owned by President Trump, owns about 38% of the holding company controlling World Liberty, with DT Marks DEFI and Trump family members together holding 22.5 billion WLFI tokens. A separate Trump-linked entity, DT Marks SC LLC, is an indirect investor in the proposed bank and signed commitments with the OCC restricting its ability to influence the institution, an agreement signed by Eric Trump in his capacity as president of DT Marks SC.
USD1 has grown to roughly $4 billion in market capitalization since launching in March 2025, making it the fifth-largest stablecoin and representing about 1.3% of the roughly $308 billion global stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama data. Once the new bank is established, World Liberty Trust plans to acquire USD1's reserve assets and associated liabilities from BitGo and become the stablecoin's issuer nationwide, with the OCC pointing to the GENIUS Act as explicitly permitting uninsured national banks to act as qualified payment stablecoin issuers.
The application drew objections tied to World Liberty's political connections. The OCC said four commenters raised potential conflicts involving Trump and his family, World Liberty co-founders Zach and Alex Witkoff, sons of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and UAE investors in the firm, with three arguing the company could receive favorable treatment since the Comptroller of the Currency is a presidential appointee. The regulator rejected that argument, saying career staff reviewed the application and would supervise the bank going forward. Approval conditions include maintaining at least $20 million of Tier 1 capital, holding liquid assets sufficient to cover 180 days of operating expenses, and seeking prior approval for major business changes during its first three years.
The timing may complicate a separate legislative priority. The CLARITY Act, which would establish a broad US regulatory framework for digital assets, has stalled in the Senate, where ethics provisions tied to Trump's crypto interests remain a key obstacle to securing the 60 votes needed for passage. Trump disclosed more than $1.4 billion in income from his family's crypto ventures in 2025, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has filed for a cloture vote on September 15, giving the bill a narrow path forward after the August recess.