Amid scrutiny and accusations of conflicts of interest from many lawmakers, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) gave conditional approval for World Liberty Financial’s application for a national trust bank.
In a Friday notice, the OCC said the conditional approval for World Liberty’s charter application, subject to certain regulatory and policy requirements, would allow the company to operate under the title World Liberty Trust Company, National Association. According to its application, the World Liberty bank proposed issuing US dollar-backed stablecoins and custodying digital assets related to the company’s USD1 token.
The OCC approval came amid concerns about potential conflicts of interest between World Liberty and US President Donald Trump’s family. The president and his three sons are affiliated with the company, and the head of the OCC, Jonathan Gould, was nominated by Trump in 2025. World Liberty’s website also said a Trump family entity controlled 38% of the company’s equity interests.
According to the agency, “the Comptroller and staff acted consistently with their statutory duties and ethical obligations with respect to the Application.” Gould previously said that the application would be reviewed in an “apolitical and nonpartisan process” following a letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren.
In response to the approval, Warren said on Friday that she had introduced legislation “to stop this kind of unprecedented corruption,” calling the OCC’s move “the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen.” She and nine senators introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act following the approval.
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Under the Trump administration and Gould, the OCC has approved or conditionally approved multiple applications from crypto companies seeking trust charters to expand their services in the US. In December, the agency approved applications from Circle, Ripple Labs, Crypto.com and Coinbase following passage of the GENIUS stablecoin bill in Congress.
World Liberty’s UAE ties under scrutiny in US Congress
Amid the OCC approval, many lawmakers are continuing to call for investigations into World Liberty’s ties to foreign entities potentially influencing US policy through Trump.
An Abu Dhabi investment company backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser, reportedly purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty in January 2025 for $500 million. Another UAE entity, MGX, used World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin to invest $2 billion in crypto exchange Binance. Trump later issued a presidential pardon for former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
A White House spokesperson has repeatedly said that there were “no conflicts of interest“ with Trump’s investments.
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