OCC Conditionally Approves Trump-Linked Crypto Bank to Issue $4 Billion USD1 Stablecoin
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 20
OCC Conditionally Approves Trump-Linked Crypto Bank to Issue $4 Billion USD1 Stablecoin
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 20
Summary
World Liberty Trust won conditional OCC approval on Aug. 14, allowing the Trump family-linked firm to operate a national trust bank and directly issue its dollar-pegged stablecoin, USD1.
38% of the company is owned by an entity affiliated with Donald Trump and his family, and experts said the bank’s structure lets it collect cash from stablecoin buyers, invest it in Treasuries and keep the interest.
USD1 has about $4 billion in circulation versus roughly $183 billion for Tether and more than $70 billion for Circle’s USDC, leaving analysts questioning why users would choose the Trump-backed coin.
Five crypto experts told the Guardian the main draw is political access: buying or holding USD1 could help depositors curry favor with the White House, a charge World Liberty and the OCC reject.
Democrats and bank-law critics called the approval unprecedented because a sitting president has a financial stake in a bank regulated by his own administration, while the OCC said career staff and ethics officials handled the review.