The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has conditionally approved a bank charter application from World Liberty Trust Co., a company linked to President Donald Trump’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial.
Federal regulators gave a conditional green light on Friday to World Liberty Trust Co.’s application for a national trust bank, according to a letter posted on the OCC’s website. The trust company is sponsored by World Liberty Financial, which says on its website that 38% of it is owned by an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain members of his family.
The charter would allow World Liberty to issue stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency backed by safe reserve assets such as U.S. Treasurys and convertible one-to-one into U.S. dollars. Currently, the company depends on a third party, BitGo, for some stablecoin services. Moving those services in house could be a profitable shift.
The approval is not final. The company still needs to complete additional steps, including raising capital. Under the Trump administration, the OCC has emphasized support for new bank charter applications, which are reviewed entirely by career staff. Since 2025, the agency has received 40 applications, a sharp increase compared with the number during President Joe Biden’s term, according to agency data. Many of those applications are tied to crypto projects.
Zach Witkoff, CEO of World Liberty Financial and chairman of the OCC-regulated trust company, welcomed the development. “We welcome continuous scrutiny from Federal regulators for many years to come,” he said in a statement. Witkoff is the son of Steven Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East negotiator.
Some congressional Democrats have refused to support the Clarity Act, a bill intended to regulate the crypto industry, because it does not impose strict limits on the president’s ability to profit from crypto ventures. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, had previously urged the OCC to reject World Liberty’s application unless the president divested from his interests in the company.
After the OCC’s approval, Warren issued a sharp rebuke. “President Trump is now the first President in history to approve, operate, and supervise his own bank,” she said. “This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen — and Congress cannot allow it to stand.”
Warren added that she and several colleagues would introduce legislation to prevent presidents and senior government officials from owning or controlling banks. The OCC declined to comment on the approval.
