The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has conditionally approved a national trust bank charter application by World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company linked to the Trump family.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain outlet, reported on Aug. 17 local time that the approval would allow the company to operate under the name World Liberty Trust Company, National Association if it meets certain regulatory and policy requirements.

The key point is that the decision opens a path for World Liberty to pursue stablecoin issuance and digital asset custody within a trust bank framework. In its application, the company presented plans to issue a U.S. dollar-based stablecoin and to provide digital asset custody related to its USD1 token.

The approval process quickly became embroiled in a conflict-of-interest controversy. U.S. President Donald Trump and his three sons are linked to the company, and the World Liberty website says a Trump family-related entity holds a 38 percent stake. OCC chief Jonathan Gould is also a person Trump nominated in 2025.

The OCC said that, in connection with the review, the acting comptroller and staff consistently acted in accordance with statutory duties and ethical responsibilities while handling the application. Gould had earlier responded to a letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren, saying the application was unrelated to politics and would be reviewed under a bipartisan process.

Democrats, however, intensified their opposition immediately after the approval. Warren said she had introduced legislation to prevent what she called unprecedented corruption, and criticised the OCC decision as the most blatant pursuit of private interests the U.S. financial system has seen. Ten senators, including Warren, put forward the End Presidential Bank Corruption Act after the approval. The bill focuses on preventing situations in which interests related to a president intervene in bank charter reviews.

The decision comes amid a trend of successive trust charter approvals for cryptocurrency firms under the Trump administration. Under Gould, the OCC has approved or conditionally approved several trust charter applications from crypto firms seeking to expand business in the United States. In December last year, after Congress passed the GENIUS stablecoin bill, it also approved applications from Circle, Ripple Labs, Crypto.com and Coinbase.

Funding flows and external links also remain contentious. U.S. lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the possibility that foreign money could exert influence on U.S. policy through Trump. An Abu Dhabi investment firm backed by UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan is reported to have bought a 49 percent stake in World Liberty for $500 million in January 2025.

Another UAE entity, MGX, invested $2 billion in cryptocurrency exchange Binance using World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin. Trump later pardoned Binance's former chief executive Changpeng Zhao. The structure of these transactions is again highlighting that World Liberty's business expansion and political controversy are difficult to separate.

The White House has repeatedly said there is no conflict of interest related to Trump's investment. The conditional approval marks another step toward World Liberty entering the regulated system, but in the process of implementing the charter, whether it meets regulatory requirements and lawmakers' calls for investigations are expected to remain variables.