Key Takeaways
The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval on Friday to World Liberty Trust Company, a national trust bank built to issue, redeem and custody the USD1 stablecoin.
World Liberty Financial says an entity affiliated with President Donald Trump and certain family members owns about 38 percent of the company, and USD1 has passed $4 billion in circulation.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Angela Alsobrooks and Ruben Gallego responded by announcing a bill to bar senior government officials from owning or controlling a bank.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval on Friday to World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, a new national trust bank organized to issue and redeem USD1, the dollar-backed stablecoin from World Liberty Financial. The approval letter, Corporate Decision #1385, went up on the agency's website the same day. World Liberty applied for the charter in January.
The charter is narrower than a commercial bank's. The bank plans to issue USD1 to institutional clients nationwide, taking that role from BitGo Bank and Trust, the current exclusive issuer and custodian, and to provide digital asset custody as a fiduciary. It does not intend to become a federally insured depository, to be treated as a bank under the Bank Holding Company Act, or to seek a Federal Reserve master account. Final approval waits on preopening conditions that the OCC says it can still modify, suspend or rescind.
World Liberty put USD1 above $4 billion in circulation and named a five-member board chaired by co-founder Zach Witkoff, who said confidence "at enterprise scale deserves the backing of federal supervision." The OCC letter said "career OCC staff reviewed the application for consistency" with the legal and regulatory requirements, language aimed squarely at public comments about who owns the applicant.
The ownership is what makes this different from the rest of the wave. World Liberty Financial says an entity affiliated with the president and certain family members holds about 38 percent of the company, and the Comptroller who approved the charter runs an agency inside the administration Trump appointed. Warren asked the OCC in January to halt the application, and Comptroller Jonathan Gould told her the agency would proceed on its normal timeline without weighing politics. Hours after the approval, Warren, Alsobrooks and Gallego announced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act, CoinDesk reported.
The trust charter track itself is well worn. WYDE covered Circle's final OCC approval for its own national trust bank and Sony Bank's conditional approval on the same path, and both the OCC letter and the company announcement describe a routine process. Alsobrooks and Gallego are also central to Digital Asset Market Clarity Act negotiations that are stalled in part over a provision asking the president to divest his crypto holdings. Worth watching.
People Also Ask
What did the OCC actually approve for World Liberty Financial?
Preliminary conditional approval to organize World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, a de novo national trust bank. It is a step in a multi-step chartering process, not permission to open.
What can a national trust bank do that World Liberty could not do before?
Issue and redeem USD1 directly, manage the reserve backing it and custody digital assets as a fiduciary under federal supervision, taking over from BitGo Bank and Trust. It cannot take deposits or lend.
Who owns World Liberty Financial?
The company says an entity affiliated with President Donald Trump and certain of his family members owns about 38 percent of it.
What is the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act?
A bill announced by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Angela Alsobrooks and Ruben Gallego after the approval that would block senior government officials from owning or controlling a bank. It has not been passed.