Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' national security adviser and chairman of Abu Dhabi's listed conglomerate International Holding Company, and his co-investors are behind StringZ Holding RSC, the entity that owns 49% of WLTC Holdings and is linked to the new Trump bank initiative.

WLTC Holdings is the holding company for World Liberty Financial's planned US crypto bank, according to The Wall Street Journal. An entity affiliated with the Trump family owns an additional 38%.

WLFI, the native token for Trump's World Liberty Financial platform, is currently trading at $0.06, up 4.2% over the past 24 hours, with daily trading volume at $59.2 million (source: TradingView).

OCC Approval and Ownership Structure

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval on August 14, 2026, to establish a federally chartered national trust bank.

The charter would allow the venture to issue, redeem, and safeguard World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin — a dollar-pegged token the platform launched in March 2025 and has said is backed by short-term US Treasuries and cash equivalents — but the company must still satisfy additional conditions before the bank can open, according to Reuters.

Tahnoon, the brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, is not new to World Liberty's ownership structure. He and other investors put $500 million into World Liberty Financial in January 2025 for a 49% stake in the cryptocurrency company. Trump's 2025 annual financial disclosure showed that the deal directed $263 million to Trump family entities.

Reuters reported that Ripple and Circle have also received preliminary approval for similar charters. Such charters can allow crypto companies to hold assets for clients nationwide under a single federal charter and provide settlement and asset-servicing functions. The approvals came after the GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, created the first US federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, requiring issuers to be licensed and supervised in the United States.

Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan — the UAE's national security adviser — now backs a 49% stake in the holding company behind the Trump family's new crypto bank, World Liberty Financial, which will run its USD1 stablecoin. This follows his previously undisclosed… pic.twitter.com/WSdiCLpjtH

— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 28, 2026

World Liberty's Response to the UAE Links

World Liberty spokesman David Wachsman said the firm is a private American financial technology company, not a political organization, and that its trust company has separate governance. He said no one at World Liberty works for the US government, that the company has no conflicts of interest, and that it neither seeks nor receives special treatment. He did not address the reported StringZ ownership structure directly.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Why the Arrangement Is Drawing Scrutiny

The arrangement has drawn scrutiny because Tahnoon is a foreign government official, and the Trump administration has negotiated with the UAE over access to advanced US artificial intelligence chips. The administration approved chip sales to G42, a UAE state-backed AI company controlled by Tahnoon, and later eased limits on the number of chips the company could purchase.

World Liberty's reported ownership structure and the administration's decisions involving the UAE have placed its planned bank under scrutiny as the charter process continues.

What Happens Before the Bank Opens

The OCC's approval remains preliminary and conditional, rather than final. World Liberty Trust must meet outstanding regulatory requirements before it can begin issuing, redeeming, and safeguarding USD1 under a national charter.

Reuters reported that the conditions include notifying the OCC of major changes to its business plan, maintaining at least $20 million in capital, and hiring a qualified internal audit manager.

The OCC also said it had received comments raising concerns about non-US investors in World Liberty Financial, and that several bank investors, including investors outside the United States, signed agreements pledging not to control or influence the bank's operations or decisions.