World Liberty Wins Conditional OCC Approval for U.S. Trust Bank

World Liberty Financial has received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank that would issue USD1, manage its reserves and provide digital asset custody across the United States.

The proposed World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, would be based in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Delaware-registered WLTC Holdings LLC.

The approval does not allow the bank to begin operating. World Liberty must satisfy the OCC’s preopening conditions and receive final authorization before it can conduct business.

The Trust Bank Must Meet OCC Conditions Before Opening

The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval on Aug. 14, allowing World Liberty to organize the proposed bank. Before opening, the company must complete all regulatory requirements, obtain stock in a Federal Reserve Bank and maintain at least $20 million in eligible capital.

The OCC must also confirm in writing that every opening condition has been met. Until final approval is issued, the regulator may modify, suspend or withdraw its decision if new information raises concerns.

Under its business plan, World Liberty Trust would issue and redeem the dollar-backed USD1 stablecoin for institutional clients. It would also manage USD1 reserves, provide digital asset custody and allow custody clients to convert approved stablecoins into USD1 using assets held at the institution.

The proposed bank would not operate as a conventional commercial lender. It would not accept ordinary retail deposits or provide traditional loans. Its activities would focus on trust services, custody, reserve management and related payment functions.

The OCC cited the National Bank Act and the GENIUS Act in concluding that national trust banks may provide digital asset custody and issue payment stablecoins. As of March 31, uninsured national trust banks supervised by the agency held $7.2 trillion in assets under administration, including $1.7 trillion in custody and safekeeping accounts.

USD1 Issuance and Reserves Would Move From BitGo

If it receives final approval, World Liberty Trust plans to replace BitGo Bank & Trust as USD1’s exclusive issuer and custodian.

The new bank would acquire USD1 reserve assets and assume the liabilities tied to the stablecoin. The OCC approved an exemption from certain affiliate-transaction requirements under Regulation W, including restrictions involving transaction limits, collateral and low-quality assets.

BitGo will continue issuing and safeguarding USD1 until World Liberty Trust completes the OCC’s conditions. The proposed reserve transfer could also require further regulatory clearance if its final structure triggers federal bank merger rules.

A national trust bank would bring USD1 issuance, custody and reserve management under direct OCC supervision. It would also allow the institution to provide approved services nationwide under a single federal framework instead of seeking separate state-level permissions.

“A national trust bank brings USD1 issuance, custody, and reserve management together under OCC supervision, examined on the same standards that have governed banks for generations,” World Liberty Chairman and President Zach Witkoff said.

World Liberty is one of several crypto firms pursuing federal trust-bank charters. The OCC conditionally approved applications involving Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos in December 2025. Coinbase, Crypto.com and Stripe-owned Bridge later received similar decisions.

Circle completed its preopening process and secured final authorization for its national trust bank in July, illustrating that conditional approval alone does not allow a proposed bank to begin operations.

Trump Family Links Have Drawn Congressional Scrutiny

World Liberty’s application has attracted political attention because President Donald Trump and his three sons are affiliated with the company. World Liberty’s website has said that a Trump family-linked entity controls about 38% of its equity interests.

Several Democratic lawmakers questioned whether the OCC could independently review the application after Trump nominated Comptroller Jonathan Gould in 2025. Before the decision, Senator Elizabeth Warren called on the OCC to pause its review until Trump relinquished his financial interest in the company.

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing in June, Warren said the application raised conflict-of-interest and national-security concerns. Gould said the agency would follow its legal obligations and conduct the review through a nonpartisan process.

The OCC said in its decision that “the Comptroller and staff acted consistently with their statutory duties and ethical obligations with respect to the Application.” According to the agency, career staff assessed the filing and nonpolitical examiners would supervise the bank.

The OCC received seven comments from four commenters. Two questioned whether the proposed activities fell within the powers of a national trust bank, while three argued that the public had insufficient information or time to comment.

The agency rejected those objections, stating that World Liberty had submitted the required public and confidential information on time and that the comment process met federal requirements.

Following the approval, Warren and nine other senators introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act. The bill would prohibit a president, vice president, their spouses or their children from owning or controlling a bank.

It would also require federal agencies to review, within 60 days of enactment, banking applications approved after Jan. 20, 2025. Regulators would be required to revoke an approval if a person covered by the bill owned or controlled the applicant when it was approved.

“This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen, and Congress cannot allow it to stand,” Warren said.

UAE-Linked Investment Remains Under Review

Congressional scrutiny has also focused on World Liberty’s foreign investors and transactions involving USD1.

An Abu Dhabi company supported by UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan reportedly agreed in January 2025 to purchase a 49% interest in World Liberty for $500 million.

Five Democratic senators called for congressional hearings in June, asking whether the investment influenced later Trump administration decisions involving U.S. arms sales to the UAE and its access to advanced AI chips.

The OCC said it considered public comments on World Liberty’s non-U.S. investors. Its decision found that the foreign investors were not principal shareholders of the proposed bank, while several investors had signed agreements not to control or influence its operations.

StringZ Holdings, DT Marks SC and AMGUS made those commitments in July. Under the agreements, they cannot appoint bank employees, seek board seats, obtain material nonpublic information or influence management, pricing, staffing or operations.

Eric Trump signed the agreement on behalf of DT Marks as president of the Trump family-linked entity. Investors with voting interests of 10% or more must remain passive, while voting power above 9.9% must be exercised by proxy in proportion to votes cast by other shareholders.

MGX, another Abu Dhabi entity chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon, used $2 billion in USD1 for its investment in Binance in May 2025. The transaction increased the stablecoin’s circulation and drew further attention to World Liberty’s business relationships.

Data cited in a February report showed that Binance-controlled wallets and customer accounts held about $4.7 billion in USD1, equal to nearly 87% of the token’s $5.4 billion supply at the time. Binance said exchanges commonly hold large quantities of listed assets, while both Binance and World Liberty denied any improper relationship.

President Trump later pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. A White House spokesperson has repeatedly rejected allegations that Trump’s investments create conflicts, saying his assets are held in a trust managed by his children and that administration decisions are made independently of family business interests.