‘Brazen act of self-dealing.’ Lawmakers, watchdogs alarmed after Trump regulators let Trump firm start a bank

New York — 

Regulators appointed by President Donald Trump are allowing the Trump family’s flagship cryptocurrency venture to become a bank, a move that is alarming ethics watchdogs and some lawmakers.

World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm Trump and his sons launched in 2024, announced late Friday that it received a preliminary conditional approval from banking officials to become a trust bank. Final approval hinges on a series of conditions being met.

The green light from regulators is a big win for World Liberty.

The firm won’t be able to take deposits or make loans. But the bank charter will allow World Liberty to cut out the middlemen it relies on to safeguard and issue USD1, a dollar-backed stable coin that has more than $4 billion in circulation.

World Liberty is celebrating the major milestone, while critics worry this is a new wrinkle on the classic case of the fox guarding the henhouse that will give corporations and foreign actors a new way to stealthily curry favor with the White House.

Trump, his sons and other investors started World Liberty weeks before winning the 2024 election. After taking office, Trump appointed crypto-friendly regulators — some of whom have now blessed the firm’s plan to become a bank.