Overview
- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued preliminary conditional approval on Aug. 14 for World Liberty Trust Company to organize a national trust bank, but the bank cannot open until it meets the OCC’s listed preopening conditions and passes final examinations.
- The charter would let the trust bank issue and redeem the USD1 dollar-linked stablecoin and provide digital-asset custody and reserve management, while not authorizing retail deposit-taking or commercial lending.
- World Liberty Financial is about 38% owned by an entity tied to President Trump and family members, a fact that has driven sharp criticism from Senate Democrats and ethics groups and led Sen. Elizabeth Warren and allies to introduce legislation to bar presidents, vice presidents and their families from owning or controlling banks.
- World Liberty and the OCC point to safeguards in the approval letter, including a DT Marks pledge of passive investor status, required capital and governance steps such as an internal audit manager and ongoing reporting, that the company says will put USD1 under permanent federal oversight.
- The move fits a larger regulatory shift as crypto firms seek federal trust charters and as agencies like the SEC advance new crypto rules, and it affects a stablecoin with roughly $4 billion in circulation that is listed on major centralized and decentralized exchanges.