Trump’s World Liberty Files for OCC Charter; ‘USD1’ Stablecoin to Anchor Trust Bank

The Lede

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the DeFi protocol backed by the Trump family, has formally applied for a national trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The filing, submitted Wednesday by subsidiary World Liberty Trust Company (WLTC), marks a decisive pivot from decentralized lending to federally regulated banking infrastructure. If approved, WLTC would become one of the few crypto-native entities, alongside Anchorage Digital, to hold a federal charter, allowing it to directly custody and issue its USD1 stablecoin without relying on third-party trust partners.

Markets reacted cautiously. WLFI traded flat at $0.17 (-0.9%), while the protocol’s dollar-pegged USD1 maintained its peg with a circulating supply of $3.3 billion.

The Application: Vertical Integration

The de novo application seeks to establish World Liberty Trust as a limited purpose national bank. According to the filing, the entity’s primary mandate is to compliantly issue and custody USD1, effectively bringing the stablecoin’s reserves under direct federal supervision. This move aligns with the recently passed GENIUS Act, which mandated stricter reserve audits and federal oversight for stablecoin issuers exceeding $1 billion in circulation.

The charter would allow WLTC to offer stablecoin issuance, redemption, and custody services directly to institutional clients, cutting out intermediary settlement layers. Business Wire

Institutional Context

This is not just a compliance play; it is a market structure play. By securing an OCC charter, World Liberty bypasses the state-level money transmitter patchwork that hampers competitors like Tether. The timing is precise: the application is the first major test of the GENIUS Act’s regulatory framework, forcing the OCC to clarify its stance on political-backed crypto banking.

The $3.3B USD1 stablecoin has seen rapid adoption in DeFi pools since its 2025 launch, but institutional integration requires the legal certainty of a federal charter. Competitors like Circle and Paxos currently rely on state trust charters (NYDFS), making WLTC’s federal bid a potentially higher-standard precedent.

Outlook

The OCC has not provided a timeline for review, though standard de novo applications can take 12-18 months. Immediate scrutiny will likely focus on the protocol’s governance structure and the Trump family’s retained ownership stakes.