Treasury Department regulators have granted preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency enterprise linked to the family of President Donald Trump, to operate as a federally chartered trust bank, clearing a path for the venture to issue and safeguard its digital currency directly.
The preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency marks a distinct corporate milestone for the enterprise. By securing bank status, the firm can cut out the middleman and provide the service directly, shifting away from third-party custodians like BitGo to manage its digital assets.
The status change endows the enterprise with new powers and federal credibility, according to legal and political reporting on the decision. Yet the development immediately drew sharp pushback from ethics watchdogs and congressional Democrats who pointed to the unique nature of a sitting president’s family holding a direct stake in a regulated financial institution.
Ownership Stakes and International Financial Ties
The holding company behind the planned trust bank, WLTC Holdings, features substantial investments from both domestic and foreign entities. StringZ Holding RSC owns a 49% stake in the bank’s holding company, a vehicle backed by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan alongside co-investors, as reported by CNBC. An entity affiliated with the Trump family controls an additional 38% of the holding company.
Financial disclosures indicate that Sheikh Tahnoon and other investors previously injected $500 million into World Liberty Financial in January 2025, corresponding with the start of Donald Trump’s second presidential term. That transaction directed $263 million to Trump family entities. The arrangement has drawn intense scrutiny given Tahnoon’s government role in the UAE and ongoing bilateral discussions regarding advanced U.S. artificial intelligence chips, the network noted.
World Liberty representatives have defended the corporate structure against allegations of impropriety. David Wachsman, speaking as a firm spokesman, asserted that the company operates as a private financial technology entity independent of government operations.
“No one at World Liberty works for the U.S. government and there are no conflicts of interest,”
David Wachsman, World Liberty spokesman
Wachsman added that the company neither seeks nor receives special regulatory treatment, noting that its trust company maintains separate governance.
Regulatory Pace and Governance Requirements
The conditional green light arrives during a period of accelerated bank charter approvals under federal regulators. During the first 19 months of the administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency cleared 22 bank charter applications—surpassing the total approved during the preceding five years combined, according to reporting from NDTV. Approximately 40 companies have applied for charters since the start of 2025, roughly matching the application volume of the prior 13 years.
While firms such as Fidelity Digital Assets and Coinbase navigated the regulatory review process in under 200 days, World Liberty Financial required 220 days to secure conditional approval. Career staff at the regulatory agency conducted the review, and three investors—including one of the president’s sons and a businessman linked to the Abu Dhabi royal family—agreed to limit their direct influence over the bank’s management structure.
The proposed institution has also shaped its executive leadership. Zachary Witkoff, CEO of World Liberty Financial and son of businessman Steven Witkoff, serves as board chairman, while Daniel Dietzel has been appointed as chief financial officer following prior experience at Hidden Road Partners.
Political Fallout and Legislative Pushback
The preliminary approval has catalyzed immediate legislative resistance from congressional Democrats. Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the action in stark terms, arguing that the arrangement compromises federal oversight.
“Trump is now the first ever president to approve, operate and supervise his own bank in the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen. Congress cannot allow it to stand.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senate
In response to the charter decision, Warren and a bloc of Democratic senators introduced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act. The proposed legislation aims to bar high-ranking government officials and their family members from exploiting their positions to own or control a bank, which could serve as a major vehicle for corrupt dealings.
Legal and financial analysts have similarly characterized the situation as historically unique. Austin Campbell, a professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, described the setup to CBS News as an awkward arrangement requiring the Treasury Department to police an entity closely tied to the sitting executive.
Before opening its doors to the public, World Liberty Financial must satisfy several remaining regulatory conditions set by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The company is required to maintain a mandatory level of capital and retain an independent outside auditor to oversee its financial controls.
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