Trump-linked World Liberty Financial seeks license to launch trust bank

The company says that it plans to allow conversion services between US dollars and USD1 without fees at launch

World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by the family of US President Donald Trump, said on Wednesday (Jan 7) that its subsidiary has filed an application with US banking regulators to establish a national trust bank focused on stablecoin operations.

Several major cryptocurrency firms recently secured preliminary approval from federal banking authorities to establish national trust banks, marking a significant step in integrating digital assets into the regulated banking system.

WLTC Holdings filed a “de novo” application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a bank charter that would issue and custody USD1, a US dollar-backed stablecoin that World Liberty launched last year.

Crypto platform Anchorage Digital is currently the only digital asset company with a national trust bank charter. The OCC supervises a total of about 60 national trust banks.

World Liberty Financial said that USD1 has reached over US$3.3 billion in circulation in its first year.

The proposed trust bank would offer stablecoin issuance and redemption, and custody services for digital assets.

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The company said that it plans to allow conversion services between US dollars and USD1 without fees at launch.

World Liberty said that the trust bank would be structured to comply with the recently passed Genius Act, which established a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins.

The OCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the application. REUTERS

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