OCC grants World Liberty Financial preliminary national trust bank charter
Key points
- The OCC issued a preliminary conditional approval on 14 August for World Liberty Financial to establish World Liberty Trust Company as a national trust bank.
- The new entity would take over USD1 stablecoin issuance and reserve management from BitGo and offer digital asset custody as a fiduciary.
- Fee-free issuance and redemption of USD1 is planned, consistent with the existing BitGo model, which could draw volume from rivals such as Circle during stress periods.
- Three indirect investors in holding company WLTC Holdings LLC, including Eric Trump, signed passivity commitments prohibiting board influence, proxy solicitation, and use of material non-public information.
- Any holding above 9.9% in WLTC Holdings LLC must be proxied to management under the conditions attached to the approval.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a preliminary conditional approval on 14 August for World Liberty Financial to establish a national trust bank, to be called World Liberty Trust Company. The entity would assume issuance and reserve management of the USD1 stablecoin from BitGo and provide digital asset custody services in a fiduciary capacity, with fee-free issuance and redemption planned, matching the current BitGo arrangement.
The approval slots into a pattern that has been running since late 2025, with BitGo, Ripple, Paxos, and Foris DAX (the entity behind Crypto.com) all having received OCC trust charters through the same route. What distinguishes this decision is the tone embedded in the conditions: the OCC required signed passivity commitments from three indirect investors in the holding company, WLTC Holdings LLC, including one from Eric Trump. Those commitments bar the signatories from seeking board seats, proposing directors, soliciting proxies, attempting to influence management decisions, or using material non-public information. Any holding above 9.9% must be proxied to management.
The passivity conditions signal that the OCC applied scrutiny beyond the standard charter process, likely reflecting the political connections involved rather than any deficiency in the operating model. For competitors such as Circle, the fee-free redemption structure is the more immediate commercial consideration: during periods of market stress, when liquidity matters most, a zero-cost exit could redirect significant stablecoin volume toward USD1.
More on the wire
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- Citi Plans Crypto Custody Launch This Year, Starting With Bitcoin
- U.S. Accounting Standards Group Proposes Stablecoins as Cash Equivalents
- US Treasury Proposes GENIUS Act Rules Defining Payment Stablecoin Issuance Jurisdiction