OCC Conditionally Approves Trump-Linked World Liberty Bank Charter
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved World Liberty Trust Co.'s national trust bank charter on Friday, per a letter on the agency's website, with career staff conducting the review.
- World Liberty Financial is 38% owned by an entity affiliated with Trump and his family; the charter would let it issue stablecoins backed by reserves like U.S. Treasurys and bring those services in-house from third-party BitGo.
- The charter process is not fully complete — World Liberty Trust Co. still must raise capital and complete additional steps before finalization.
- The OCC under Trump has received 40 bank charter applications since 2025, a sharp increase from Biden's term, with many tied to crypto projects.
- World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff, son of Trump's Middle East negotiator Steven Witkoff, welcomed the approval and said the firm welcomes 'continuous scrutiny from Federal regulators for many years to come.'
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called it 'the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen' — language she used to argue Trump is the first president to 'approve, operate, and supervise his own bank.'
- Warren and several colleagues plan to introduce legislation barring presidents and senior officials from owning or controlling banks, while some Democrats are already blocking the Clarity Act because it lacks strict limits on presidential crypto profits.
Why it matters: World Liberty gains a direct path to issuing stablecoins and capturing revenue currently routed to BitGo, while Warren's promised legislation and the Democratic blockade of the Clarity Act mean the approval ignites a crypto-versus-conflict-of-interest fight in Congress — with 39 other pending OCC charter applications, many crypto-linked, caught in the crossfire.
Ask SkimNews
