TL;DR:
- World Liberty Financial submitted its application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on January 5.
- Donald Trump reported personal earnings totaling $57 million from this platform in June 2025.
- A firm backed by United Arab Emirates officials acquired a 49% stake in the company prior to the presidential inauguration.
The Trump family’s crypto empire could soon take the route toward the banking sector, expanding its horizons. World Liberty Financial, the digital asset trading and stablecoin platform co-founded by the U.S. president and his three sons, applied for a national trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on January 5.
Industry experts and congressional aides predict a favorable response from the head of the OCC, Jonathan Gould, who was appointed by the current administration.
According to reports based on anonymous statements from former officials of the regulatory body, the approval of this charter is highly probable due to recent modifications in the granting criteria, which are now more favorable toward cryptocurrency firms. Under Gould’s management, nearly a dozen firms with similar business models have already received institutional authorizations.
Operational benefits and issuance of the USD1 token
Obtaining a national bank charter means significant legal advantages and broad reach. With this license, platforms can settle financial transactions directly, practically identical to the operating model of payment service providers like PayPal or Venmo.
Technical details of the proposal indicate that approval would empower World Liberty Financial to publicly issue its own stable token, denominated as USD1, in the domestic market without the need to rely on external financial intermediaries. Current federal regulations establish that national charters exempt entities from compliance with state regulations, including certain liquidity requirements aimed at ensuring solvency.
Ethics watchdog organizations and Democratic Party lawmakers stated that approving the license would generate an unprecedented conflict of interest in the country’s history. According to projections by public policy analysts, control of a banking entity by the presidential family could open direct channels for the flow of corporate capital into the executive’s inner circle.
Financial structure and regulatory oversight
World Liberty Financial spokesperson David Wachsman declared that the company will operate under permanent and robust supervision by the OCC if approved. The representative affirmed that the organization will comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering regulations. Furthermore, the company maintains that the president has had no involvement in the business since taking office.
The company’s financial structure has generated notable revenue for its founders. At the close of the first half of 2025, the president declared personal earnings of $57 million derived from the firm during the period corresponding to 2024. Estimates from the organization Public Citizen suggest that this amount has increased significantly in the subsequent months.
The development of this regulatory process coincides with a period of scrutiny over the platform’s international alliances. The next verifiable milestone of the project will be the publication of the opening book audit results by OCC bank examiners once the formal decision on the operating license is issued.
