World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s flagship crypto venture, has received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to become a bank. Upon final approval, World Liberty Trust will operate as a federally chartered national trust bank, enabling it to issue, redeem, and safeguard USD1, its dollar-backed stablecoin launched last year. The stablecoin currently has a market value of approximately $4 billion and its reserves are custodied with Bit Go.

To become operational, World Liberty must satisfy a list of conditions and undergo a final examination by the OCC. This approval follows the OCC's recent greenlighting of several crypto-focused trust banks, granting them greater access to traditional finance. Trust banks, unlike full banks, typically cannot accept deposits or issue loans.

The development occurs as President Trump’s $1.4 billion earnings from his memecoin and crypto ventures reportedly create challenges for the Clarity Act, a bill aimed at establishing a comprehensive digital asset regulatory framework. Disagreements over ethics provisions prohibiting government officials from profiting from digital assets have stalled the bill, with a procedural vote scheduled for September 15.