Trump Family's World Liberty Financial Applies for Banking License

Securing Authority for Issuance and Custody of Stablecoin USD1
Concerns Raised Over Potential Conflicts of Interest

President Donald Trump and his second son Eric Trump attending the New Year's Eve party held at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on December 31 last year (local time). Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

World Liberty Financial (WLF), operated by the Donald Trump family, has applied to financial authorities for approval as a national bank trust. This move is interpreted as an effort by WLF to secure the authority to issue and provide custody (custody services) for its stablecoin, USD1.

According to the Financial Times (FT) on January 7 (local time), WLF submitted its application for national bank trust approval to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an agency under the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the previous day. WLF's application for a banking license comes just one month after the OCC conditionally approved banking licenses for five virtual asset companies, including BitGo, Circle (USDC), and Ripple.

This move is in line with President Trump's pro-virtual asset policies. The Trump administration passed the "Genius Act," a law related to virtual assets, last year. As a result, all stablecoin issuers in the United States are now required to maintain reserves on a 1:1 basis with the amount issued. Only highly liquid assets such as cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds are recognized as eligible reserves, and if the reserve ratio falls short, immediate legal sanctions are imposed.

USD1 is a proprietary stablecoin issued by WLF. Like Tether (USDT) and Circle, its value is pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. Recently, the market value of USD1 has rapidly grown to 3.3 billion dollars (approximately 4.7 trillion won), with a third-party investor using tokens worth 2 billion dollars to acquire a stake in Binance. President Trump reported earning 57.3 million dollars in income from WLF as of 2024. Some have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest regarding these developments.

In response, Mac McCain, WLF’s Legal Counsel and Head of Trust, emphasized, "WLF will operate under the same OCC oversight, including the segregation of customer assets, independent reserve management, and regular inspections."