The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company, National Association preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank charter on Friday, August 14, clearing the way for the Trump family-backed crypto venture to issue its own USD1 stablecoin instead of outsourcing the job. The decision, published as Corporate Decision #1385, arrives seven months after World Liberty Financial filed its application in January and over the objections of Democratic lawmakers who argued the president should not own a company his own appointees regulate.
A stablecoin is a crypto token designed to hold a fixed value, usually one US dollar, by holding reserves of cash and short-term government debt against every token in circulation.
Key takeaways
- The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval on August 14, 2026, not a final charter. Final approval depends on World Liberty meeting preopening requirements, and the agency can modify, suspend or rescind it.
- World Liberty Trust Company plans to take over USD1 issuance and custody from BitGo Bank & Trust, the token’s current exclusive issuer.
- USD1 carries a market capitalization of roughly $4 billion, ranking fourth among stablecoins behind Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
- Conditions include a $20 million minimum in tier 1 capital, at least half held in cash or government obligations maturing within 90 days, and a dedicated internal audit manager.
Published: August 15, 2026, 09:15 UTC
What the OCC actually approved
The charter lets World Liberty operate as a national trust bank, not a conventional one. The company cannot accept federally insured deposits, cannot make ordinary bank loans, and told the regulator it does not intend to become a “bank” under the Bank Holding Company Act or seek a Federal Reserve master account.
What it can do is issue and redeem USD1, hold the reserve assets backing the token, and custody digital assets in a fiduciary capacity for institutional clients. The OCC letter states the bank “plans to issue USD1, a fiat currency-backed stablecoin, to institutional clients on a nationwide basis, assuming this role from BitGo Bank & Trust, National Association, the current exclusive issuer and custodian for USD1.”
The approval is provisional in a specific way. Final approval comes only after the company clears preopening requirements, including a $20 million tier 1 capital floor with at least half in cash or government obligations maturing within 90 days, notice to the regulator of major business plan changes, and a qualified internal audit manager on staff.
Why controlling issuance matters for USD1
Bringing issuance in-house removes a middleman from World Liberty’s most valuable product. USD1 reported roughly $4.012 billion in supply against about $4.013 billion in reserves as of August 11, a collateralization ratio of 100.01%. Every dollar of that float generates yield for whoever holds the reserves, and today much of that economics sits with BitGo.
A federal charter also changes who World Liberty can sell to. Market makers, exchanges and investment firms barred from counterparties without a federal supervisor become addressable. That is the same logic behind the wave of trust charter applications the OCC has processed over the past year, including conditional approvals for Coinbase, Paxos, BitGo, Ripple and Circle, which followed its OCC charter with a New York state trust charter three weeks later.
Comptroller Jonathan Gould, previously chief legal officer at Bitfury, has argued that firms working with novel technology should “have a pathway to become federally supervised banks.” A trust charter still stops short of Fed payment rails, the plumbing at issue in Custodia’s Supreme Court fight over master account access.
The conflict-of-interest fight is not over
World Liberty’s ownership is why this charter drew opposition that Coinbase’s and Ripple’s did not. President Trump and his sons co-founded the venture, and June financial disclosures showed Trump received millions in income tied to it. The Comptroller who signed Friday’s letter serves at the pleasure of that president.
Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Gould in January demanding the OCC halt its review until Trump divests. “If the application is approved, you would promulgate rules that influence the profitability of the President’s company,” she wrote. “You would also be responsible for directly supervising and enforcing the law against the President’s company, and its competitors.” Gould replied that the OCC would proceed on its normal timeline without considering politics.
Friday’s letter addresses the objections in a line, noting they were raised in public comments and that “career OCC staff reviewed the application for consistency” with legal and regulatory requirements. Separate scrutiny continues over an Abu Dhabi investment firm’s reported $500 million stake in World Liberty Financial, which triggered a House probe in February.
What comes next
World Liberty must satisfy the preopening conditions before the charter becomes final, and the OCC retains the power to pull the approval if circumstances change. Chief executive Zach Witkoff, son of Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, said on X that the company aims to “build the most trusted and widely used digital dollar in the world while strengthening the role of the U.S. dollar across the global economy.”
The timing cuts against a rough week for crypto policy. The SEC canceled its Regulation Crypto meeting with no replacement date and delayed its tokenization innovation exemption, pushing bitcoin to roughly $63,000 and dragging tokenization-linked equities lower on Friday. A charter for the president’s own crypto company was the one federal action that moved forward.
Frequently asked questions
Does the OCC approval mean World Liberty is now a bank?
No. The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval, an intermediate step. World Liberty Trust Company must meet preopening requirements before receiving final approval, and the agency can modify, suspend or rescind the decision. Even then it would be a national trust bank, not a deposit-taking bank.
What changes for USD1 holders?
Nothing immediately. BitGo Bank & Trust remains the exclusive issuer and custodian of USD1 until the transition happens. Once World Liberty Trust Company opens, it plans to assume issuance, redemption and reserve custody, placing those functions under direct OCC supervision.
Can World Liberty access the Federal Reserve payment system?
Not under this charter. The company told the OCC it does not intend to seek a Federal Reserve master account. Trust charters grant federal supervision and custody powers but do not automatically come with direct access to Fed payment rails.
