OCC approves Trump family crypto firm for trust charter
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- OCC conditionally approved World Liberty Financial's national trust bank charter, allowing it to operate as World Liberty Trust Company, N.A., with plans to issue US dollar-backed stablecoins and custody digital assets tied to its USD1 token.
- World Liberty Financial is 38% owned by a Trump family entity and sold a 49% stake in January 2025 for $500 million to an Abu Dhabi investment company backed by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
- Elizabeth Warren and nine senators introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act on Friday, calling the OCC's approval "the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen."
- OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould, nominated by Trump in 2025, had previously pledged an "apolitical and nonpartisan process" review; the agency said staff "acted consistently with their statutory duties and ethical obligations."
- UAE-backed MGX used World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to invest $2 billion in crypto exchange Binance, and Trump later issued a presidential pardon for former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — a White House spokesperson said there are "no conflicts of interest" with Trump's investments.
- Under the Trump administration and Gould, the OCC has approved or conditionally approved crypto trust charter applications from Circle, Ripple Labs, Crypto.com, and Coinbase following passage of the GENIUS stablecoin bill.
Why it matters: World Liberty — 38% Trump family-owned with a $500 million UAE stake — gains regulated federal banking access for stablecoin issuance, while Warren's 10-senator bill shifts the fight to Congress to reverse an OCC approval that already cleared the regulatory gate.
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