The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty Financial to establish a federally chartered national trust bank, a step that would allow the stablecoin issuer to bring issuance, redemption and custody of its USD1 token under a single regulated entity.
The proposed bank, backed by a holding company with a 49% stake owned by Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and co-investors, would take over functions currently handled through a third-party custodian. Entities linked to the Trump family hold 38% of WLTC Holdings, according to a newly disclosed ownership table.
World Liberty submitted its application to the OCC in January and received conditional preliminary approval on Aug. 14. The authorization does not yet permit the bank to open. World Liberty must meet the OCC’s pre-opening requirements and pass a final examination before receiving full approval.
For USD1, the charter would create a more direct route to operating a roughly $4 billion stablecoin business. The token is described by World Liberty as being backed by U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents. A national trust bank could custody those reserve assets, process redemptions and issue new tokens without relying on an outside trust provider.
A stablecoin issuer moves reserves in-house
National trust banks differ from conventional commercial banks. They generally cannot take deposits or make loans, but they can offer custody, settlement and payment-related services across the United States under a federal charter.
That limited model has become attractive for digital-asset firms whose core business depends on safeguarding customer assets or stablecoin reserves rather than lending. For World Liberty, federal authorization would place the reserve-management function inside an entity subject to OCC supervision.
The financial incentive is substantial. USD1’s reported $4 billion market value, if fully backed by short-term government debt and cash instruments, could generate significant interest income. The source material estimates annual reserve income at about $150 million. Running the custody structure internally would allow World Liberty’s trust bank to retain a larger portion of that income instead of sharing it with its current third-party custodian.
The arrangement would also give World Liberty greater control over redemption operations, which are central to a dollar-pegged stablecoin’s credibility. Stablecoin issuers need to convert tokens into dollars reliably during periods of elevated withdrawals, making reserve custody, settlement arrangements and asset liquidity central operational issues rather than back-office details.
Tahnoon’s stake puts ownership under focus
The bank application has drawn added attention because of World Liberty’s ownership structure. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser and brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, holds the largest disclosed interest in WLTC Holdings through StringZ Holding RSC and co-investors.
Tahnoon’s group owns 49% of the holding company, while Trump-linked entities own 38%, according to the ownership table. Tahnoon oversees a network of personal and state-linked capital that has been reported to manage more than $1.3 trillion across investment vehicles and sovereign funds.
In January 2025, four days before Donald Trump returned to office, Tahnoon and co-investors committed $500 million to World Liberty Financial through Aryam Investment 1 in exchange for 49% of the company, according to the supplied details. Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure said $263 million of that investment flowed to Trump family entities.
World Liberty has also received capital from Guren “Bobby” Zhou through a firm called Aqua 1. A report earlier this month said Zhou invested $100 million in total. Under World Liberty’s stated policy, up to $75 million of that amount could be allocated to a company controlled by the president and his three sons.
The OCC’s conditional approval applies to the proposed bank’s ability to meet federal safety, compliance and operational requirements. Its review does not alter the commercial ownership interests disclosed by World Liberty, though those interests place the project at the intersection of stablecoin regulation, foreign capital and the business activities of the president’s family.
The Genius Act created a federal route
World Liberty’s application followed the Genius Act, signed by President Trump in July 2025. The law established a framework under which approved stablecoin issuers can hold reserve assets directly if they operate through an eligible federal charter.
The legislation also limits the reserve assets that can support U.S.-issued dollar stablecoins. Permitted assets include U.S. Treasury bills with maturities of 93 days or less, along with other specified cash-like instruments. Those limits are designed to reduce the risk that stablecoin issuers use longer-dated, less liquid or credit-sensitive assets to support tokens redeemable at par.
A federal trust-bank charter would therefore give World Liberty a regulated structure tailored to the business model contemplated under the new law: issuing a payment token while holding narrowly defined reserves and providing nationwide custody and settlement services.
USD1 remains much smaller than the market’s dominant stablecoin. The supplied market data put the total global stablecoin market at $308 billion by mid-August 2026, with Tether’s USDT accounting for $183 billion of supply. USD1’s approximately $4 billion capitalization gives it a meaningful presence but leaves it far below the largest dollar-linked tokens.
OCC builds a selective crypto-charter pipeline
World Liberty joins a growing but uneven group of crypto-focused companies seeking federal bank charters. In recent months, the OCC has issued preliminary approvals for national bank charters connected to Ripple and Circle, according to the supplied information.
The agency has also shown a willingness to stop applications that do not meet its standards. It rejected Dutch digital bank Bunq’s application in early August over regulatory and compliance concerns. In mid-August, the OCC returned Zerohash’s trust-bank filing after identifying material deficiencies. Zerohash subsequently submitted a narrower application, with its public comment period running through Sept. 17.
Those outcomes indicate that preliminary approval is only one stage in a longer supervisory process. World Liberty must now convert its proposal into an operational institution with the controls, staffing, liquidity arrangements and compliance systems required by the OCC before it can begin issuing and redeeming USD1 through its own bank.
If it reaches final approval, World Liberty would become one of the first politically prominent stablecoin ventures to operate its reserve and custody functions through a federally chartered trust-bank structure.
For deeper context on this move and U.S. stablecoin rules, explore the Genius Act’s impact on stablecoins today.
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