Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser and brother of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, holds a 49% stake with co-investors in a holding company established for World Liberty Financial’s proposed US bank venture, The Wall Street Journal reported. The structure places a senior UAE official alongside a Trump family-linked cryptocurrency company as it seeks to build a federally chartered trust bank for stablecoin services.
According to the Journal, Tahnoon and other backers hold their interest in WLTC Holdings through StringZ Holding RSC. WLTC Holdings is linked to World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, the entity formed to pursue a national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The OCC granted preliminary approval to World Liberty Trust Company weeks before the Journal’s report. That step would allow the company to move closer to operating under a federal banking framework, subject to meeting remaining conditions set by the regulator.
World Liberty Financial issues USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin with a market capitalization of roughly $4 billion. The token ranks fourth among stablecoins, behind Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, according to widely used market-data rankings. A trust-bank charter could give the company a more direct structure for managing parts of USD1’s issuance, redemption and custody operations.
A proposed bank for USD1 services
World Liberty Financial created the trust company earlier this year as part of a plan to seek an OCC license. Its proposed activities include issuing and redeeming stablecoins, holding digital assets in custody, converting assets and providing on-ramp and off-ramp services connecting conventional money with cryptocurrency.
National trust banks differ from full-service commercial banks. They typically focus on fiduciary, custody and payment-related activities and do not necessarily take deposits or make loans in the way traditional banks do. For a stablecoin issuer, the structure could reduce reliance on outside financial institutions for certain functions while bringing the company’s operations within an OCC-supervised entity.
The preliminary OCC approval does not mean the trust bank has begun operating. Such approvals generally require an applicant to satisfy organizational, capital, risk-management and compliance requirements before opening. World Liberty Trust Company would also need to demonstrate that it can meet federal standards governing anti-money-laundering controls, cybersecurity, governance and the handling of customer assets.
The proposed charter arrives as stablecoin companies increasingly seek clearer legal and operational foundations in the United States. Issuers depend on banking relationships, reserve management and reliable redemption systems, making a federal trust-bank framework commercially valuable even when a company does not intend to become a consumer lender.
UAE financing and Trump-linked ownership
Tahnoon’s involvement adds a geopolitical and political dimension to the bank application. He is one of the UAE’s most influential officials and oversees a network of state-linked and private investment interests. The Journal previously reported that an investment vehicle backed by Tahnoon acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million shortly before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The latest report describes a separate but related ownership arrangement involving the planned bank venture’s holding company. World Liberty Financial and WLTC Holdings are distinct corporate entities, though both sit within the same business effort around USD1 and crypto financial services.
The Trump family retains a substantial ownership interest in World Liberty Financial. The relationship has drawn scrutiny because the company is expanding into a federally regulated financial activity while Donald Trump is president and his administration oversees the executive agencies involved in financial policy and appointments.
Anna Kelly, the White House principal deputy press secretary, told the Journal there were “no conflicts of interest.” The White House did not provide further detail in the statement cited by the newspaper.
The ownership questions extend beyond whether a foreign participant can hold an interest in a US financial-services business. A central concern for critics is the overlap between foreign capital, a company affiliated with the president’s family and a regulatory process conducted by an executive-branch agency.
Congressional pressure builds
Senate Democrats have called on Republican leaders to hold hearings examining the Trump family’s connections to Abu Dhabi royalty involved with the venture. In the House of Representatives, Democratic Representative Ro Khanna opened an inquiry in February into funds directed to World Liberty Financial from the UAE royal family.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has also called for tighter restrictions on presidential and family financial interests in regulated banks. Her position reflects a broader argument among Democratic lawmakers that federal bank supervision requires stronger safeguards where a president’s relatives retain economic ties to an applicant or regulated institution.
No congressional investigation or public statement cited in the supplied material establishes wrongdoing by World Liberty Financial, Tahnoon, the Trump family or the OCC. The scrutiny instead centers on governance, disclosure and potential conflicts created by the ownership structure.
The proposed trust bank will likely face attention on those issues as it moves through the OCC’s remaining approval process. The regulator’s final decision will determine whether World Liberty Trust Company can become an operating national trust bank and bring USD1’s core infrastructure under a single federally chartered entity.
For USD1 users and the broader stablecoin market, the immediate development is less about a change in the token’s day-to-day trading and more about its issuer’s institutional path. A completed charter would give World Liberty Financial a regulated vehicle for custody, redemption and related services, while placing its foreign-backed ownership and Trump-linked corporate ties under a more intense public and political spotlight.
For deeper context on WLFI’s role in stablecoins and US politics, explore this WLFI stablecoin explainer today.
Disclaimer: The content on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not represent the views or financial advice of Toobit. We make no guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information and shall not be held liable for any errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from its use. Investing in digital assets involves risk; users should independently evaluate their financial situation and the risks involved. For further details, please consult our Terms of Service and Risk Disclosure.
