On Friday, World Liberty Financial (CRYPTO: WLFI), a cryptocurrency platform co-founded by members of the Trump family, secured conditional approval from a federal regulator for a national trust bank charter through World Liberty Trust Co.
Stablecoin Ambitions Take Shape
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, posted the approval letter on its website. According to World Liberty Financial, it is 38% owned by an entity linked to President Donald Trump and his family.
The charter would let the firm issue stablecoins directly, moving away from third-party provider BitGo (NYSE:BTGO).
Stablecoins are pegged to assets like U.S. Treasuries and redeemable one-to-one for dollars.
The approval is conditional, not final. World Liberty must still raise capital and complete additional regulatory steps before the charter takes full effect.
The OCC has received 40 bank charter applications since 2025, many of them linked to crypto projects. That is a significant increase from the number of applications received during President Joe Biden’s administration.
Warren Warns of Self-Dealing
World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff, son of Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, said in a statement that the company “welcomes continuous scrutiny from federal regulators for many years to come.”
After Friday’s approval, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said it is “the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen.” She added she’ll introduce legislation barring “this kind of unprecedented corruption.”
This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) August 14, 2026
I’m introducing a bill to stop this kind of unprecedented corruption. https://t.co/QXciFet8Ab
In January, Warren had urged Comptroller Jonathan Gould to delay reviewing the application until Trump divested from the company, warning the arrangement would let him effectively oversee his own bank.
The charter approval comes as World Liberty’s broader expansion has hit turbulence. The firm has reportedly delayed a token tied to a Trump-branded Maldives resort after the Iran war disrupted travel across the region.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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