Trump Family Crypto Firm Receives Conditional Approval from US Regulator
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Crypto company World Liberty Financial has received conditional approval from the US federal financial regulator. The approval was granted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to World Liberty Trust Co. through a letter published on Friday.
World Liberty Trust is a company sponsored by World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm in which part of the ownership is affiliated with Trump and several members of his family. On its official website, World Liberty Financial states that around 38% of the company’s ownership is held by entities affiliated with Donald J. Trump and several family members.
If the entire licensing process is completed, World Liberty Trust will be able to operate as a national trust bank. One of the key benefits of the licence is the ability to issue stablecoins, crypto assets whose value is designed to track a specific currency, in this case the US dollar. Stablecoins are generally backed by relatively safe reserve assets, such as US government debt securities, and can be exchanged for US dollars at a one-to-one ratio.
Currently, World Liberty Financial still relies on a third party, BitGo, for a number of stablecoin-related services. With the banking licence, the company has the opportunity to bring some of those services in-house.
However, the OCC approval does not mean World Liberty Trust immediately obtains a full operating licence. The company must still meet a number of additional requirements before the bank establishment process is declared complete, including capital requirements.
The OCC’s move also reflects growing regulatory interest in new bank licence applications, especially from companies operating in the digital asset sector. Under the Trump administration, the OCC has recorded around 40 applications since 2025. That number has increased sharply compared with the previous administration. A number of the applications come from projects related to the crypto industry.
World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff welcomed the approval. He said the company is open to ongoing oversight by federal regulators. “We welcome the continued oversight of federal regulators for years to come,” Witkoff said in a statement, citing CNBC International, Monday (17/8/2026).
Witkoff also serves as chairman of World Liberty Trust, which is under OCC supervision. Witkoff is the son of Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East. The business and political connections have made the approval of World Liberty Trust a focus of attention in Washington.
A number of Democratic lawmakers had previously opposed support for the Clarity Act, a bill aimed at regulating the crypto industry, because they considered the rules did not provide sufficiently strict limits on Trump’s potential gains from digital asset businesses.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren had even previously asked the OCC to reject World Liberty Financial’s application before Trump divested his interest in the company. “President Trump has now become the first president in history to approve, operate, and oversee his own bank,” Warren said in a statement after the OCC approval.
After the OCC granted conditional approval, Warren again criticised the decision. She said the situation raises serious concerns about potential conflicts of interest because Trump has ties to a company that obtained a licence from a federal regulator. “This is the most blatant conflict of interest ever to occur in our financial system - and Congress must not let it pass,” she said.
Warren and several colleagues in Congress also plan to introduce legislation that would prohibit the president and senior administration officials from owning or controlling banks.
Meanwhile, the OCC did not provide further comment on the approval. It should be noted that the licence application process at the OCC is handled and reviewed by career staff at the agency.