Key highlights:

  • The OCC granted conditional approval for World Liberty to operate as a national trust bank
  • The charter would let the firm issue and redeem USD1
  • The Trump family has earned over $1.6 billion through its crypto ventures

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted conditional approval for World Liberty Financial's trust company, World Liberty Trust Co., to operate as a federally chartered national trust bank. 

The approval letter added that the final sign-off still depends on the firm meeting a set of "preopening requirements." The regulators also said that they retain the right to modify, suspend, or withdraw the conditional approval at any point before then.

World Liberty Financial looks to expand USD1 offerings

World Liberty Trust is sponsored by World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture co-founded by President Trump and his sons. Other members of the family also hold a 38% stake in that sponsor company. 

Once the bank is fully approved, the firm would be able to directly issue and redeem USD1, the venture's dollar-pegged stablecoin, under OCC oversight. 

USD1 has grown since its launch last year and is now the fourth-largest stablecoin by market value. It currently has a market cap of $4 billion, with its reserves held in custody by BitGo

Zach Witkoff, who leads World Liberty Trust Co. and serves as chief executive of the venture, welcomed the news in a public statement. He said in his post that strong oversight and institutional controls are what turn stablecoins into trusted financial infrastructure. 

He had previously shared that their application is one of the most vetted applications in OCC history. Witkoff added that the firm's willingness to accept federal supervision shows it wasn't looking for preferential treatment.

The trust bank's proposed five-member board includes Zach Witkoff, his uncle Robert Witkoff, a former co-chief investment officer at The Chubb Corp., and Scott Alper, President of the family's real estate firm, Witkoff Group. 

Rounding out the board are Jeffrey Weiner, the former chairman and CEO of accounting firm Marcum LLP, and Erin Baskett, a governor on FINRA's board and founder of brokerage firm Sine Qua Non Capital.

Democrats push back against the approval

The decision has drawn expected attention from Senate Democrats. Elizabeth Warren had initially told the OCC not to approve the application. She immediately took to social media to criticize the new decision after the news was shared.

On Friday, Warren and ten other Senate Democrats introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act. This legislation aims to bar federal regulators from approving bank charters tied to a sitting president, their family, or other senior government officials.

OCC Senior Deputy Comptroller Stephen Lybarger addressed the conflict-of-interest concerns Senators have continued to raise in the approval letter. He stated that the agency and its staff acted in line with their legal duties during the review.

“The Comptroller and staff acted consistently with their statutory duties and ethical obligations with respect to the Application,” he wrote. “Approvals of applications such as this are made under authority delegated by the Comptroller to career staff.”

Trump's crypto profits were reported to have reached $1.4 billion in 2025. This fact is also one of the reasons the CLARITY Act has stalled in the Senate. In 2025 alone, the President earned more than $500 million from sales of the WLFI token. Democrats are looking to stop this from happening again with the new charter bank.