Crypto Firm Tied to President Wins Conditional Bank Charter

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted preliminary, conditional approval for a stablecoin issuer tied to the first family to establish a national trust bank. The decision allows the project to move closer to managing its digital assets under direct federal oversight.

World Liberty Financial, an entity co-founded by President Donald Trump's sons, received the regulatory nod on August 14 to organize the World Liberty Trust Company. The proposed Florida-based trust bank aims to internalize the issuance and custody of USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, taking over the operational role from its current custodian, BitGo.

According to conditions outlined in the OCC's decision letter and reported by Reuters, the new trust must maintain a minimum capital requirement of $20 million [1] and appoint a qualified internal audit manager before it can officially commence operations. Furthermore, the entity must adhere to recent federal stablecoin legislation and faces an 18-month deadline to satisfy all pre-opening conditions [1].

The token at the center of the charter, USD1, currently maintains over $4 billion in circulation, according to company figures cited by Fintech Finance News [2].

Federal Supervision

Proponents of the banking charter argue that comprehensive federal oversight is a necessary step for institutional adoption of digital assets. Zach Witkoff, CEO and chairman of World Liberty Financial, emphasized the need for a regulated environment as the asset's market cap scales.

"USD1 grew because institutions trust how it operates, and confidence at enterprise scale deserves the backing of federal supervision," Witkoff stated, according to Fintech Finance News [2].

By operating as a national trust bank, the firm would sidestep the need to accept traditional retail deposits or secure Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) coverage, while maintaining direct control over its stablecoin reserve assets [1].

Conflict of Interest Concerns

However, the regulatory green light has triggered significant pushback from lawmakers and financial watchdogs regarding potential structural risks. According to TradingView, disclosures on the company's website indicate that a Trump family entity currently controls a 38% equity stake in World Liberty Financial [3].

The relationship between the executive branch and the federally supervised project has drawn sharp criticism. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) strongly opposed the OCC's decision, characterizing the approval as "the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen," as quoted by TradingView [3]. In response to the preliminary charter, Warren and a coalition of Democratic senators introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act, legislation aimed at prohibiting a sitting president or their family members from controlling a chartered bank.

Independent academic observers have also highlighted the unusual nature of the arrangement. Austin Campbell, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, noted the structural difficulty for the regulatory body. "This creates the awkward situation of the OCC needing to police World Liberty, which has an affiliation with the president's family," Campbell said, as reported by CBS News [4]. "It is pretty unprecedented."

The OCC maintained in its filing that staff evaluated the application consistently with statutory duties and ethical obligations [3].