Trump Family Crypto Firm Gets Preliminary Bank Charter Approval

Economy8 sourcesAug 15, 2026

7 placedFactual rigor 59/100

The Story

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval on Friday for a national trust bank charter to World Liberty Trust Co., a cryptocurrency venture partially owned by President Donald Trump's family.

The OCC, led by Trump appointee Jonathan Gould, announced the decision in a letter published Friday. World Liberty Financial, launched in 2024 by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump with partners, is 38% owned by an entity affiliated with the Trump family. The firm applied for the charter in January. The OCC stated that career staff assessed the application.

If finalized, the charter would allow World Liberty to issue its stablecoin tokens, called "USD1," directly within the United States and to custody the US dollar assets backing them. Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, stated the ambition is to build a trusted digital dollar and strengthen the US dollar's role globally. Senator Elizabeth Warren, top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, called the approval the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen.

She had previously expressed alarm about potential conflicts of interest during the review process, stating in January, "We have never seen financial conflicts or corruption of this magnitude."

What they agree on

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval for a bank charter to World Liberty Financial.
World Liberty Financial is a cryptocurrency venture partially owned by President Donald Trump's family.
The OCC is led by Jonathan Gould, a Trump appointee.
The approval was announced on Friday.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has criticized the decision, calling it an act of self-dealing.

Where they split

The Hill and Truthout include details about the specific ownership percentage (38%) of World Liberty Financial by an entity affiliated with the Trump family.
Mother Jones and Reuters, as cited by Truthout and Common Dreams, report on President Trump's personal financial gains from World Liberty Financial in 2025, totaling $65 million from share sales and nearly $600 million from stablecoin sales.
The Hill and Fox Business mention that the OCC's decision was assessed by career OCC staff, a detail not emphasized in all other reports.
Truthout and Common Dreams include a quote from Senator Elizabeth Warren from January regarding the initial application, in addition to her recent statement.