World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance protocol supported by President Donald Trump, has filed an application with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to launch World Liberty Trust Company, National Association (WLTC). The proposed entity will be structured as a national trust bank focused on issuing, converting, and holding the company’s USD1 stablecoin, according to a Wednesday release.
Application seeks OCC approval for stablecoin-focused trust
The filing from WLTC Holdings LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of World Liberty Financial, represents a new chapter for the crypto venture that launched in October 2024. The application outlines a plan to create a federally regulated trust company built specifically for stablecoin services, including issuance, redemption, and custody.
A successful charter from the OCC would allow WLTC to operate under a federal regulatory regime and manage stablecoin activities internally rather than through third-party custodians.
“This application marks a further evolution of the World Liberty Financial ecosystem. USD1 grew faster in its first year than any other stablecoin in history,” said Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial and the proposed president and chairman of World Liberty Trust Company. “Institutions are already using USD1 for cross-border payments, settlement, and treasury operations. A national trust charter will allow us to bring issuance, custody, and conversion together as a full-stack offering under one highly regulated entity,” Witkoff said in the release.
World Liberty Financial Announces that WLTC Holdings LLC has Submitted an Application for a National Trust Bank Charter to Issue and Custody USD1 Stablecoins 🦅☝️https://t.co/ulapagYLYq
— WLFI (@worldlibertyfi) January 7, 2026
Building a federally supervised stablecoin operation
If approved, WLTC would offer three primary services under federal oversight: stablecoin issuance and redemption, on-ramp and off-ramp services, and custody and conversion. The trust company would serve institutional customers, including digital asset exchanges, market makers, and investment firms.
According to the company, WLTC will initially allow fee-free minting and redemption of USD1, as well as zero-fee conversion between U.S. dollars and USD1. The company plans to provide custody for USD1 and other accepted stablecoins, with conversion capabilities at market rates.
“The OCC has supervised trust activities for over a century,” said Mack McCain, general counsel of World Liberty Financial and the proposed trust officer for WLTC. “WLTC will operate under that same framework, with segregated customer assets, independent reserve management, and regular examination. That gives banks, asset managers, and corporations the regulatory clarity they need to further expand their use of USD1.”
USD1 is fully backed by U.S. dollars held at regulated financial institutions and funds that hold short-duration U.S. Treasury securities. It operates across ten blockchain networks, among them Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Smart Chain, to support cross-border payments and on-chain settlement for businesses.
OCC sees rising applications from crypto firms
The OCC, which regulates national banks and trust institutions, granted conditional approvals in December to several digital-asset firms, including Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said that new entrants to the banking sector “provide access to new products, services, and sources of credit to consumers and ensure a dynamic, competitive, and diverse banking system.”
Anchorage Digital is still the only crypto-native company with a fully approved federal trust charter, which sets a high bar for other companies to meet.
World Liberty’s move indicates an effort to formalize its operations at a time when stablecoin regulation in the U.S. continues to evolve following the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which President Trump signed into law in July 2025.
Addressing scrutiny over ownership and structure
World Liberty’s ties to President Trump and his family have drawn attention from lawmakers who raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest as the firm expands into the regulated financial system. Witkoff has said the trust company’s structure aims to maintain separation between executive management and the Trump family, who are listed as co-founders of the overarching protocol but are not involved in daily operations.
McCain confirmed that WLTC would operate under strict compliance standards, including anti-money laundering, sanctions screening, and cybersecurity requirements consistent with OCC protocols.
“WLTC will be a regulatory upgrade for the USD1 ecosystem,” said Chris Loeffler, CEO of Caliber. He described the national charter as transforming USD1 from “a trading instrument to a settlement instrument” by bringing it into an environment under federal oversight.
Gunel Ismayilova
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