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

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

Bank cannot open until conditions are satisfied

In its Aug. 14 decision, the OCC said it had granted preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty Trust Company, National Association. The proposed institution would operate from Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Delaware-registered WLTC Holdings LLC.

Preliminary approval allows the company to organize the bank, but it does not permit the bank to begin operations. The OCC said World Liberty Trust must complete preopening requirements and obtain final authorization under federal banking law before it can conduct business.

Until final approval is issued, the regulator may modify, suspend, or withdraw its decision if new information raises concerns. World Liberty Trust must also apply for stock in a Federal Reserve Bank, maintain at least $20 million in eligible capital, and receive written confirmation from the OCC that all opening conditions have been met.

Under its proposed business plan, World Liberty Trust would issue and redeem the dollar-backed $USD1 stablecoin for institutional clients across the country. The bank would also maintain reserves, provide custody services, and allow custody customers to convert approved stablecoins into $USD1 using assets already held with the institution.

World Liberty Trust would not function as a standard commercial bank. Its proposed charter does not include ordinary retail deposits or conventional lending, and its business would instead be limited to trust, custody, reserve, and related payment services.

Citing the National Bank Act and the GENIUS Act, the OCC said national trust banks may provide digital asset custody and issue payment stablecoins. The agency also said uninsured national trust banks under its supervision held $7.2 trillion in assets under administration as of March 31, including $1.7 trillion in custody and safekeeping accounts.

$USD1 operations would move from BitGo

Once authorized to open, World Liberty Trust plans to replace BitGo Bank & Trust as the exclusive issuer and custodian of $USD1. The OCC said the proposed bank would acquire the token’s reserve assets and assume the liabilities associated with them.

Federal rules governing transactions between banks and their affiliates could apply to the transfer. However, as part of its review, the agency approved an exemption from certain limits, collateral rules, and restrictions on low-quality assets under Regulation W.

BitGo will remain responsible for $USD1 issuance and custody until World Liberty Trust completes the OCC’s conditions. The proposed bank would need additional regulatory clearance if the final structure of the reserve transfer triggers other federal bank merger requirements.

For American institutions using $USD1, an operating national trust bank would place issuance, reserve management, and custody under direct OCC supervision. Federal status would also allow the bank to provide its approved services nationwide under one regulator rather than seeking separate state permissions.

World Liberty Chairman and President Zach Witkoff said the structure would place $USD1’s main functions under the same federal supervisor.

“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.”

Witkoff also said the company welcomed “continuous scrutiny from federal regulators.”

World Liberty has joined several crypto companies pursuing federal trust structures. The OCC conditionally approved applications involving Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos in December 2025, while Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Stripe-owned Bridge later received similar decisions.

Circle completed its preopening requirements and obtained final authorization for its national trust bank in July. The process underscores that conditional approval alone does not allow a proposed institution to begin banking operations.

Trump family ties prompt political scrutiny

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

Trump nominated Comptroller Jonathan Gould in 2025, which led several Democratic lawmakers to question whether the regulator could review the application independently. Before the OCC’s decision, Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the agency to delay its review until Trump gave up his financial interest in the company.

As crypto.news reported in June, Warren challenged Gould during a Senate Banking Committee hearing and argued that the application raised conflict-of-interest and national security concerns. Gould said the agency would follow its legal duties and conduct the review through a nonpartisan process.

In its approval, the OCC said, “the Comptroller and staff acted consistently with their statutory duties and ethical obligations with respect to the Application.” According to the decision, career agency employees reviewed the filing, while nonpolitical examiners would supervise the bank.

The OCC also said it received seven comments from four commenters. Two questioned whether the proposed activities fit the legal powers of a national trust bank, while three argued that the public did not have enough information or time to comment.

Agency officials rejected both objections. The decision said World Liberty submitted the required public and confidential information on time, and the comment period complied with federal rules.

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

Senate Banking Committee Democrats said the measure would require federal agencies, within 60 days of enactment, to review banking applications approved after Jan. 20, 2025. Regulators would have to terminate an approval issued while a person covered by the bill owned or controlled the applicant.

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

The legislation is backed by Senators Chris Van Hollen, Angela Alsobrooks, Chris Murphy, Bernie Sanders, Richard Blumenthal, Jack Reed, Andy Kim, Tammy Duckworth, and Ruben Gallego.

UAE investment remains under congressional review

Congressional scrutiny also extends to World Liberty’s foreign investors and its transactions involving $USD1. An Abu Dhabi company backed by UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan reportedly purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million through an agreement signed in January 2025.

In June, five Democratic senators requested congressional hearings into the transaction. Their letter asked whether the investment affected later Trump administration decisions involving UAE arms sales and access to advanced artificial intelligence chips.

The OCC said it considered public comments about World Liberty’s non-U.S. investors. In its decision, the agency said the foreign investors were not principal shareholders of the proposed bank and noted that several investors signed agreements promising not to control or influence its operations.

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

Eric Trump signed the commitment for DT Marks in his role as president of the Trump family-linked entity. Any voting interest of 10% or more must remain an investment, while voting power above 9.9% would be exercised through a proxy using the same proportion as votes cast by other shareholders.

Separate scrutiny has centered on MGX, another Abu Dhabi entity chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon. MGX used $2 billion in $USD1 for an investment in Binance in May 2025, helping increase the stablecoin’s circulation.

A February report on $USD1 cited Arkham Intelligence data showing that Binance-controlled wallets and customer accounts held about $4.7 billion of the token, equal to nearly 87% of its $5.4 billion supply at the time. Binance said exchanges commonly hold large amounts of listed assets, while World Liberty and the exchange denied having an 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 activities.