Trump's crypto company made him $800 million. Now it's a real bank

Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement: “All of President Trump’s investment holdings are in held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions. This is the same, tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family, and his administration for a decade.”

Trump is a champion of crypto

Many of Trump's policies since taking office have benefited the crypto industry, including implementing federal rules for stablecoins, which is what World Liberty Financial will now be able to issue, and dialing back how much the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission police the industry.

“A charter makes it easier for you to support customers and provide new services,” said Christian Catalini, the founder of the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab. He said World Liberty Financial represents part of a backlog of crypto companies seeking to operate as banks and now getting approved under the Trump administration.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was appointed by Trump, wrote on social media on Aug. 17 that his department is working hard “to provide the regulatory certainty businesses need to innovate and grow in America, cement the role of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency, and keep America the crypto capital of the world.”

The Department of Treasury did not provide a comment in response to USA TODAY’s inquiry about the chartering process or potential ethical implications, but the approval letter from the Office of Comptroller of Currency describes public comments that alleged there were potential conflicts of interest because Trump appointed the comptroller.

"The comptroller and staff acted consistently with their (legal) duties and ethical obligations with respect to the application," the letter says. It further says that career staff, not the comptroller himself, supervise and enforce laws related to banks such as World Liberty Financial.

'Not a joke'

In a statement, David Wachsman, spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, pointed to language in the preliminary conditional approval letter designed to keep the Trump-owned family company that owns a stake in World Liberty Financial separate from banking operations.

“In plain English, it requires the Trump family entity to remain separate from the trust company’s operations and prevents it from influencing how the company is run,” Wachsman said. “These safeguards were included specifically to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

The charter is preliminary and requires the company to notify the Office of Comptroller of Currency of any major business plan changes, maintain at least $20 million in capital and hire an internal audit manager.

“Critics are missing the point: World Liberty Financial is embracing regulation, not avoiding it,” Wachsman said. “A national charter would place World Liberty Trust Company under permanent federal oversight … well beyond the Trump administration.”

Catalini, who generally supports regulating crypto more similarly to banks, said a future Democratic president could choose to appoint someone who regulates the company differently.

“Being regulated as a bank is not a joke,” he said. “I think in the long run this is going to be a net benefit for society.”

Contributing: Reuters.