OCC Gives Preliminary Conditional Approval for World Liberty Trust Bank
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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has conditionally granted preliminary approval for a trust bank sought by World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm backed by US President Donald Trump’s family.
Reuters reported on August 15 that the OCC gave World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval for the national trust bank charter it applied for in January. If the approval is finalized, World Liberty would be able to issue its USD1 stablecoin directly and keep the reserve assets on its own books.
A final charter would allow the newly formed trust bank to custody and manage client assets and handle payment services. It generally would not be permitted to take deposits or make loans like a conventional bank.
The approval would also let World Liberty bring in-house the issuance of USD1 and custody of its dollar reserve assets, functions currently handled by partner BitGo.
Zach Witkoff, chairman and president of World Liberty Trust, called the preliminary approval a major milestone. He said a national trust bank would allow the company to consolidate USD1 issuance, custody and reserve management under OCC supervision.
The approval also comes with additional conditions. World Liberty must notify the OCC of any material changes to its business plan, maintain at least $20 million in capital and hire qualified personnel to oversee internal audits.
USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin launched in March last year, has a market value of about $4 billion. Reuters said it has become the world’s fourth-largest stablecoin.
The approval has also drawn conflict-of-interest concerns. Some Democratic lawmakers have questioned whether a regulator led by a Trump appointee should review a bank charter application tied to a company linked to the president’s family. The OCC said career staff conducted the review in line with applicable legal and ethical obligations.
