The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted conditional approval to World Liberty Financial's application for a national trust bank charter, allowing the Trump family-linked crypto company to operate as World Liberty Trust Company, National Association.
The OCC's Friday notice said the approval is subject to certain regulatory and policy requirements. According to its application, the company proposed issuing US dollar-backed stablecoins and custodying digital assets related to its USD1 token.
A Charter Under a Political Spotlight
The decision lands amid persistent accusations of conflicts of interest. President Donald Trump and his three sons are affiliated with World Liberty, and a Trump family entity controls 38% of the company's equity interests, according to the firm's website. OCC chief Jonathan Gould was nominated by Trump in 2025 — a pairing that drew scrutiny from lawmakers even before the application was filed.
The OCC defended its process, stating that "the Comptroller and staff acted consistently with their statutory duties and ethical obligations with respect to the Application." Gould had previously pledged, in response to a letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren, that the application would be reviewed in an "apolitical and nonpartisan process."
Warren's response to the approval was blunt. She called it "the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen" and said she had introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act, backed by nine senators, to block comparable arrangements.
Foreign Ties Still in Question
The charter also keeps attention on World Liberty's overseas relationships. An Abu Dhabi investment company backed by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan reportedly purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million in January 2025. Another UAE entity, MGX, used the USD1 stablecoin to invest $2 billion in Binance. Trump later issued a presidential pardon for former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. The White House has repeatedly said there are "no conflicts of interest" with Trump's investments.
Part of a Broader Wave
The approval fits a wider pattern. Under the Trump administration and Gould, the OCC has approved or conditionally approved multiple crypto trust charter applications — including Circle, Ripple Labs, Crypto.com and Coinbase in December, following Congress's passage of the GENIUS stablecoin bill.
For the stablecoin sector, a nationally chartered trust issuing USD1 under OCC supervision adds another federally regulated issuer to a market still implementing its new framework. For critics, it is the strongest test case yet for whether crypto's regulatory expansion can stay insulated from the political interests of the officials approving it.