Key Takeaways
- World Liberty won conditional OCC approval Aug. 14 for its $4 billion USD1 operation.
- OCC requires World Liberty Trust to hold at least $20 million in tier 1 capital.
- World Liberty has 18 months to open its bank after clearing OCC requirements.
The Aug. 14 decision gives World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, a route to bring USD1 issuance, redemption, reserve management and digital asset custody in-house. The proposed bank would operate from Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, but no doors open until the OCC’s lengthy pre-opening checklist is cleared.
World Liberty Moves USD1 Closer to Home
World Liberty Financial arrived in late 2024 as a crypto and DeFi platform tied to the Trump and Witkoff families. An entity affiliated with President Donald Trump and certain family members owns a 38% stake. Zach Witkoff, the company’s CEO, is proposed as president and chairman of the new trust company.
Driving the expansion is USD1, a stablecoin built to hold a $1 value through reserves including cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries. Its market capitalization had climbed to roughly $4.036 billion by mid-August, placing USD1 among the bigger dollar-linked cryptocurrencies.
Bitgo Bank & Trust currently manages USD1 issuance and custody through an exclusive arrangement. If the bank wins final authorization, World Liberty intends to acquire USD1 reserve assets and associated liabilities from Bitgo, pulling more of the stablecoin’s plumbing directly under its own roof.
OCC Attaches a Long List of Conditions
The charter is not a conventional banking license that lets World Liberty operate like an ordinary consumer bank. The proposed institution would instead run as a national trust company centered on fiduciary and related activities rather than accepting traditional deposits or issuing commercial loans.
The OCC’s preliminary approval includes USD1 issuance and redemption, reserve maintenance, digital asset custody, and conversion services, allowing eligible customers to swap approved stablecoins for USD1. World Liberty contends that putting those functions inside one federally supervised institution could give USD1 more appeal for institutional payments, settlement and treasury operations.
Permission to actually open, however, comes with considerably more heavy lifting. World Liberty Trust Company must hold at least $20 million in tier 1 capital, with the greater of $10 million or 50% kept in eligible liquid assets. It must also carry sufficient liquidity to cover 180 days of operating expenses.
The company must build compliance systems, install an independent internal audit manager, and put senior officers and directors through OCC review. It must also clear requirements covering anti-money laundering (AML) controls, information technology, insurance coverage, and a pre-opening examination.
World Liberty is racing a clock as well. The preliminary approval dies if the required capital is not raised within 12 months or the bank fails to open within 18 months. The proposed institution must also apply for stock in a Federal Reserve Bank.
Political Scrutiny Follows the Banking Push
The application has drawn criticism over the Trump family’s financial stake in World Liberty and questions surrounding foreign investors. Democratic lawmakers and other critics argue that those relationships could create conflicts while federal regulators weigh the company’s banking ambitions.
“This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen. I’m introducing a bill to stop this kind of unprecedented corruption,” Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren posted on X.
The OCC said certain investors signed passivity agreements barring them from controlling or influencing bank operations. It also said the application followed statutory and ethical requirements, with career staff participating and future supervision handled by nonpolitical examiners.
Witkoff called the decision a milestone, saying the charter would bring USD1 issuance, custody, and reserve management together beneath OCC supervision.
“What makes a stablecoin trustworthy is the strength of the reserve behind it, and who stands accountable for it. A national trust bank brings USD1 issuance, custody, and reserve management together under OCC supervision, examined on the same standards that have governed banks for generations. We welcome continuous scrutiny from Federal regulators for many years to come,” Witkoff stated on Friday.
The approval also follows preliminary charter decisions for other crypto businesses as more digital asset firms pursue direct federal oversight rather than navigating layers of intermediaries and state requirements.
Final Approval Becomes the Next Test
World Liberty still needs to raise capital, construct compliant systems and survive regulatory examinations before the bank can open. The OCC retains authority to modify, suspend or rescind its preliminary decision if conditions change.
Clearing those hurdles would give World Liberty direct control over critical infrastructure behind one of the larger U.S. dollar stablecoins. What comes next is straightforward but demanding: satisfy the OCC’s capital and compliance conditions, transfer USD1 operations from Bitgo and secure final authorization to begin banking operations.
