Trump-Linked World Liberty Gets Conditional Bank Charter for USD1 Stablecoin

In brief

• The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty Trust Company, a Florida-based national trust bank tied to the Trump family's World Liberty Financial.
• As a trust bank it won't take deposits, carry FDIC insurance or seek a Fed master account for now.
• Commenters raised conflict-of-interest concerns over ties to Trump, his family and Emirati investors—which the OCC dismissed as outside its scope.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Thursday granted preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank tied to World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture backed by President Donald Trump and his family, clearing a major hurdle for the firm's dollar-pegged stablecoin.

The proposed institution, World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, would be based in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida. According to the OCC's decision letter, it plans to issue and redeem USD1, World Liberty's stablecoin, taking over that role from BitGo, the current exclusive issuer and custodian.

The bank would also provide digital-asset custody as a fiduciary and let custody clients convert approved stablecoins into USD1. As a trust bank, it won't take deposits, carry FDIC insurance or, for now, seek a Federal Reserve master account, and it committed to staying outside the definition of a "bank" under the Bank Holding Company Act.