The World Liberty Financial bank charter received conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). This moves the Trump family-linked crypto company closer to operating a federally regulated national trust bank.
The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval on Aug. 14 for World Liberty Trust Company, National Association. If the company satisfies the regulator’s requirements and receives final approval, the trust bank could directly issue World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin, custody assets backing the token and provide payment settlement and other asset-servicing functions.
Unlike a traditional commercial bank, however, the proposed World Liberty Trust Company would generally not be permitted to accept customer deposits or issue loans.
World Liberty Financial Bank Charter Comes With OCC Conditions
The World Liberty Financial bank charter is still subject to several requirements before the company can begin operations.
According to Reuters, the OCC conditions include maintaining at least $20 million in capital, appointing a qualified internal audit manager and notifying the regulator about big changes to the bank’s business plan.
The charter could be particularly important for World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin. BitGo currently handles issuance and custody of the dollar assets backing USD1, while an operational national trust bank would allow World Liberty to bring those functions under its own federally supervised entity. USD1 has grown to roughly $4 billion in market capitalization.
USD1 price and market cap (Source: CoinCodex)
Warren Criticizes OCC Over Trump Family Connections
The approval has also intensified political scrutiny surrounding World Liberty Financial because of its connections to President Donald Trump and his family.
Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the OCC decision and said she was introducing legislation aimed at preventing similar conflicts. Warren described the approval as an extraordinary example of self-dealing.
The OCC pushed back against concerns over the review process. In its approval letter, the regulator said Comptroller Jonathan Gould and agency staff acted in accordance with their statutory and ethical obligations, and added that career staff reviewed the application.
The decision also fits into an expansion of federal banking access for the crypto industry. The OCC previously granted conditional approvals to several digital-asset companies, including Ripple, Circle-related First National Digital Currency Bank, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos.
For World Liberty Financial, however, the political implications mean its path toward final approval will very likely receive a lot more more scrutiny than a typical crypto bank charter application.
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