Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial is seeking a national trust bank charter as it hopes to consolidate issuance, custody, and conversion of USD1, the project’s stablecoin offering.
“WLTC Holdings LLC filed a de novo application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish World Liberty Trust Company, National Association (WLTC), a proposed national trust bank purpose-built for stablecoin operations,” a Jan. 7 press release noted.
According to World Liberty CEO Zach Witkoff, as institutions are already using USD1 for cross-border payments, settlement, and treasury operations, securing a national trust charter would allow World Liberty Financial to “bring issuance, custody, and conversion together as a full-stack offering under one highly regulated entity.”
Banking charter to benefit USD1
World Liberty plans to service institutional customers such as cryptocurrency exchanges, market makers, and investment firms by offering digital asset custody and stablecoin conversion services that will allow holders of other stablecoins to move into USD1.
The trust bank would also allow for fee-free minting and redemption of USD1.
Further, the new entity would be compliant with the GENIUS Act that was signed into law by President Donald Trump in July last year, as it establishes a formal regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers under federal oversight.
“All operations will follow rigorous AML and sanctions screening, as well as be subject to state-of-the-art cybersecurity protocols,” World Liberty said in the release.
With this move, the Trump family’s crypto platform plans to double down on efforts to scale the institutional and retail adoption of USD1, which currently boasts a market cap of roughly $3.38 billion.
Launched in early 2025, USD1 has quickly grown to become the sixth-largest stablecoin with a 24-hour trading volume of over $2.4 billion at the time of writing.
Over the past year, the team has undertaken various initiatives to boost USD1’s use across retail and institutional markets, including plans for launching a crypto-linked debit card that connects with Apple Pay.
USD1 has also expanded across several major blockchain networks after initially launching on Ethereum and BNB Chain, including Solana, TRON, Aptos, and AB Core.
Last month, the World Liberty Financial team proposed using 5% of the project’s treasury to support high-profile CeFi and DeFi partnerships that can accelerate adoption.
However, so far, the community’s response to the proposal has been mixed, with many governance participants voting against it due to concerns over transparency and strategic clarity.
Crypto firms secure banking charters
Meanwhile, the OCC has gradually started warming up to crypto-native banking infrastructure and has been handing out conditional approvals to a growing number of applicants.
So far, five crypto-facing companies, namely Circle, Ripple, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo, and Paxos, have received conditional approvals, while only one firm, Anchorage Digital Bank, holds an active national trust bank charter.
Granting a similar charter to World Liberty Financial could, however, ignite a firestorm among lawmakers and regulators.
Given the project’s ties to the Trump family, any federal approval would likely face intense scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest and the appearance of political favoritism.
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