Witkoffs' World Liberty Trust scores OCC nod, inches closer to running its own $4B USD1 mint 🏦

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved a national trust charter for World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, the entity tied to President Donald Trump's crypto venture World Liberty Financial and the $4 billion USD1 stablecoin. Under the decision, the proposed bank, to be based in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, would issue and redeem USD1 itself, custody the dollar and Treasury money market fund reserves behind the token, and offer digital-asset custody as a fiduciary, including converting approved stablecoins into USD1 for clients. BitGo currently serves as exclusive issuer and custodian of USD1.

The OCC framed the approval around its statutory remit and said career staff handled the review. Comptroller Jonathan Gould, whom Trump appointed to lead the agency last year, "met his statutory duties and ethical obligations," the regulator wrote in its decision letter, and nonpolitical examiners will supervise the bank once it opens. The OCC noted it received public comments flagging potential conflicts of interest involving Trump, his family, the Witkoffs and Emirati investors in World Liberty, as well as Emoluments Clause questions, but it largely dismissed those concerns as outside the scope of its review, noting that World Liberty Financial itself is not a party to the application. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has separately argued that the OCC's crypto charter approvals are illegal because the firms function as banks without bank-level safeguards.

Leadership of the proposed bank sits inside the Witkoff family. Zachary Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial and son of special envoy Steve Witkoff, is listed as organizer, director and president and would chair the trust. Robert Witkoff and Scott Alper, who runs the Witkoff family real estate business, are proposed directors. Passivity commitments filed with the approval were signed by Eric Trump for one investing entity. According to prior reporting, World Liberty Financial had routed more than $1.6 billion to Trump and his sons as of April, a figure consistent with his 2025 crypto earnings disclosure, and Reuters estimated Trump family earnings from USD1 at roughly $50 million through June 2026.

Conditions on the charter include a $20 million minimum capital floor, advance notice of major business plan changes, a qualified internal audit manager and compliance with the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law enacted last year. As a trust bank, the entity will not take retail deposits, carry FDIC insurance or, for now, seek a Federal Reserve master account, and it committed to staying outside the definition of a "bank" under the Bank Holding Company Act. The bank has 18 months to open.

USD1 trades near $1 with a market capitalization of about $4.02 billion, ranking 23rd across all crypto assets. Rivals reached the same regulatory milestone earlier: Circle won final OCC bank approval in July, while Ripple, Crypto.com, Paxos, Fidelity and BitGo hold conditional trust charter approvals, and major lenders have weighed legal action over charters that grant crypto firms federal standing without full bank supervision. Nothing changes for USD1 holders until the OCC's conditions are satisfied and final approval lands.