The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted World Liberty Trust Company, National Association preliminary conditional approval to organize as a national trust bank, positioning the Trump family-linked venture to take over direct issuance and reserve management of its USD1 stablecoin. The approval, dated Aug. 14, is detailed in the OCC's own Corporate Decision #1385, which states plainly that the agency “hereby grants preliminary conditional approval of your charter application upon determining that your proposal meets certain regulatory and policy requirements.”
The planned bank, based in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, would not accept deposits, carry FDIC insurance, or seek a Federal Reserve master account at the outset. It must comply with the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin framework enacted the previous year, and maintain a minimum of $20 million in capital. World Liberty Trust Company has 18 months to satisfy the OCC's preopening requirements before it can begin operating, and the agency retains the right to modify, suspend or rescind the conditional approval at any point before then.
BitGo hands off issuance
USD1 is currently issued and held in custody exclusively by BitGo, which itself received its own conditional national trust charter from the OCC back in December 2025 as part of a batch of five approvals that also included Ripple, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos. Once World Liberty Trust Company opens, it would assume BitGo's role directly, giving World Liberty control over the reserves backing a stablecoin that has grown to roughly $4 billion in circulating supply, making USD1 one of the largest dollar-pegged tokens in the market.
Zachary Witkoff is named in the filing as organizer, director and president of the new trust bank, while Eric Trump signed passivity commitments for one of the investing entities involved. The OCC said it considered conflict-of-interest concerns raised by commenters over the Trump family's ties to the venture and its Emirati investors, but determined those concerns fell “outside the scope of its review.”
Charter approvals accelerate industry-wide
World Liberty's approval lands amid a broader wave of stablecoin issuers pursuing the same federal trust structure. Circle received final OCC approval in July 2026 to operate Circle National Trust, giving it direct control over reserves backing USDC, which circulates at more than $73 billion. Paxos, by contrast, is converting from an existing New York trust charter rather than starting fresh, seeking a single federal regime in place of a state-by-state footprint.
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The approval has drawn political criticism given the Trump family's direct financial stake in the venture and the OCC's position within the executive branch. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren called it “the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen.” Whether that criticism slows World Liberty's path to final approval remains to be seen, but the 18-month preopening window means USD1 is likely to remain under BitGo's custody for some time yet.
