OCC Grants Preliminary Bank Charter to Trump-Linked World Liberty Trust

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval on August 14, 2026, for World Liberty Trust Company to establish a national trust bank. The venture is an affiliate of World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm co-founded by President Donald Trump and his sons. The charter allows the company to directly issue, redeem, and manage reserves for USD1, a dollar-backed stablecoin valued at approximately $4 billion, removing the need for third-party intermediaries like BitGo.

Headquartered in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, the bank is prohibited from accepting federally insured deposits or making conventional loans. To secure the charter, the firm must maintain at least $20 million in tier 1 capital. To mitigate conflicts of interest, Eric Trump and the family holding company, DT Marks, filed passivity commitments agreeing not to influence bank operations. The OCC maintains that career staff reviewed the application according to statutory duties and the Genius Act of 2025.

Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats condemned the move as a brazen act of self-dealing, arguing that the president is effectively supervising his own bank. In response, Warren introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act to prohibit federal officials and their families from owning or controlling banks. Additionally, Democratic senators requested that the Securities and Exchange Commission investigate the $TRUMP memecoin for potential fraud after reports that traders lost $3.8 billion.