The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval on August 14 to World Liberty Trust Co., a subsidiary of the Trump family-linked crypto project, to operate as a limited-purpose national trust bank focused on stablecoin activities.
The approval represents a significant milestone for World Liberty Financial and its USD1 stablecoin, which launched in 2025. The charter enables the company to issue, redeem, and manage reserves for its dollar-pegged token without relying on third-party banking partners, a constraint that has limited other stablecoin issuers.
The charter does not authorize traditional banking activities such as lending or federally insured deposits. Instead, it provides a regulatory framework specifically for digital asset custody and stablecoin operations under the GENIUS Act, the 2025 legislation that created the first comprehensive U.S. framework for payment stablecoins.
The announcement drew immediate reaction from both supporters and critics. Proponents argue that the approval advances U.S. leadership in stablecoin innovation and provides a model for how crypto-native firms can integrate into the traditional financial system. Critics, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and whether the approval sets a precedent for political favoritism in financial regulation.
For the broader crypto industry, the charter signals that federal regulators are becoming more comfortable with specialized banking arrangements for digital assets. It also sets a template that other stablecoin issuers may follow, potentially accelerating the migration of on-chain finance into regulated institutions.
World Liberty Financial must still meet additional conditions before receiving final approval, including capital requirements and operational compliance. The timeline for full authorization remains uncertain, but the preliminary approval gives the project a regulatory foothold that few crypto firms have achieved.
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