OCC Approves Trump Family Crypto Firm's Trust Charter
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- World Liberty Financial received conditional OCC approval to operate as "World Liberty Trust Company, National Association," with the bank proposing to issue US dollar-backed stablecoins and custody digital assets tied to its USD1 token.
- The OCC faced immediate conflict-of-interest scrutiny as Trump and his three sons are affiliated with the company, OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould was nominated by Trump in 2025, and a Trump family entity controls 38% of World Liberty's equity.
- Senator Elizabeth Warren, joined by nine other Democrats, introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act, calling the approval "the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen."
- OCC leadership defended the process, with Gould previously pledging an "apolitical and nonpartisan" review and the agency stating staff "acted consistently with their statutory duties and ethical obligations."
- An Abu Dhabi investment firm backed by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty in January 2025 for $500 million, fueling congressional scrutiny of foreign influence.
- UAE-linked MGX used World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to make a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance — a deal followed by Trump's presidential pardon of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Why it matters: The OCC cleared a crypto firm in which the sitting president's family holds a 38% equity stake and that received a $500 million UAE investment — a combination Warren's bill explicitly targets, meaning the approval may face legislative pushback that could reshape how trust charters are granted to politically connected applicants.
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