TLDR
- The OCC granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval for a federal bank charter on Friday
- World Liberty plans to take over USD1 stablecoin issuance from BitGo Bank and Trust
- USD1 has a market cap of $4 billion, ranking it the fourth-largest stablecoin
- Democratic senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, plan to introduce legislation blocking senior officials from owning or controlling a bank
- Other crypto firms including Coinbase, Paxos, BitGo, Ripple, and Circle have also received conditional approvals from the OCC
World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm backed by President Donald Trump, has received conditional approval from a federal regulator to operate as a national trust bank.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Trump family crypto company World Liberty Financial receives approval to become a federally chartered bank.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) August 14, 2026
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued the preliminary approval in a letter published on Friday. The approval allows World Liberty Trust Company to offer fiduciary and trust company services tied to its USD1 stablecoin.
What the Approval Covers
World Liberty Trust Company plans to take over USD1 stablecoin issuance from BitGo Bank and Trust, which currently serves as the exclusive issuer and custodian. The bank also plans to offer digital asset custody services to institutional clients.
USD1 currently has a market cap of $4 billion. It ranks as the fourth-largest stablecoin, behind Tether and USD Coin.
The company applied for the charter in January of this year. World Liberty said the license would allow it to offer stablecoin issuance and redemption, on-ramp and off-ramp services, and custody and conversion for institutional customers such as market makers, exchanges, and investment firms.
World Liberty Trust Company does not plan to become a federally insured depository institution. It also does not plan to access a Federal Reserve master account.
Final approval has not yet been granted. The company must still meet additional pre-opening requirements before the OCC issues full clearance. The OCC can also rescind the conditional approval.
World Liberty CEO Zack Witkoff said on X that the company wants to “build the most trusted and widely used digital dollar in the world while strengthening the role of the U.S. dollar across the global economy.” Witkoff is the son of Trump’s Middle East special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Political Pushback
The approval has drawn immediate backlash from Democratic lawmakers. Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with senators Angela Alsobrooks and Ruben Gallego, announced plans to introduce the “Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act.” If passed, the bill would block senior government officials from owning or controlling a bank.
This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen.
I’m introducing a bill to stop this kind of unprecedented corruption. https://t.co/QXciFet8Ab
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) August 14, 2026
Warren had previously written to OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould in January, demanding a halt to the review until Trump divested from the company. Gould responded that the agency would proceed on its normal timeline without political considerations.
Financial disclosures released in June showed Trump received millions of dollars connected to World Liberty Financial.
World Liberty is not alone in seeking a federal charter. Coinbase, Paxos, BitGo, Ripple, and Circle have all received conditional approvals from the OCC over the past year. Gould, who previously served as chief legal officer at Bitfury, has publicly stated that crypto firms should have a pathway to become federally supervised banks.
The negotiations over broader crypto legislation, including the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, remain stalled partly over an ethics provision related to Trump’s crypto business ties.
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