OCC grants preliminary bank charter to Trump sons' crypto firm World Liberty Financial

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a letter on Friday granting preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty Financial's application to create a national trust bank, the World Liberty Trust Company, National Association. The firm, launched in 2024 by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, is reported to be 38% owned by an entity linked to Donald J. Trump and family members.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said the approval represented a significant conflict of interest, describing it as "the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen."

If finalized, the charter would enable World Liberty to issue its own USD-stablecoin and hold the underlying U.S. dollar assets, functions currently performed by partner BitGo. Reuters noted that similar charters have been granted to other crypto firms such as Ripple and Circle, allowing them to provide nationwide asset-servicing and settlement services.

World Liberty Financial called the OCC's decision "a milestone in a multi-step chartering process" in a press release and indicated that the bank's board would be chaired by Zach Witkoff, son of former special envoy to the Middle East. The OCC said the application was reviewed by career staff, and the decision was announced by Comptroller Jonathan Gould.