World Liberty Seeks Bank Charter as USD1 Stablecoin Surges to $3.4B
World Liberty Financial is making a big move - they've officially applied for a US national banking charter, marking a turning point...
Quick overview
- World Liberty Financial has applied for a US national banking charter, aiming to integrate stablecoins into the payment infrastructure.
- If approved, they will issue their own dollar-backed stablecoin, USD1, which has a market value of $3.4 billion and has been used in significant transactions.
- The trust charter will provide a regulated framework for stablecoin issuance and custody, bridging the gap between crypto and traditional banking.
- World Liberty is targeting institutional clients and plans to comply with regulatory requirements, while addressing potential conflicts of interest related to its connections.
World Liberty Financial is making a big move – they’ve officially applied for a US national banking charter, marking a turning point for stablecoins as we know them – from being just a tool for trading to actually becoming part of the payment infrastructure.
On Wednesday of last week, World Liberty Trust put in a de novo application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the part of the Treasury that oversees national banks. What this means is that if they get approval, they’ll be able to issue and safeguard their own dollar-backed stablecoin, USD1, which they launched last year. That stablecoin has actually done pretty well – its market value is now $3.4 billion, and it’s already been used in some major deals like a $2 billion Binance deal involving third-party investors.
Getting a trust charter is a big deal, as it gives them a foot in the door between the world of crypto and traditional banking. What that means is there’s now a regulated framework for stablecoin issuance and custody, which is a big step forward.
🇺🇸 JUST IN: Trump-backed World Liberty Financial has applied for a national trust bank charter to issue and custody USD1 stablecoins. pic.twitter.com/VDCbobt2Cg
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) January 7, 2026
Trust Charters – more than just crypto oversight
Up till now, World Liberty has relied on the existing crypto infrastructure, with BitGo handling USD1s’ reserves. And that setup makes sense – it gets stablecoin issuance on par with traditional reserve management and reporting.
The OCC has been open to giving out these trust charters lately – back in December, they gave them to BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Circle, Ripple, and Paxos – so that’s made it a lot clearer how tokenized finance works.
Trust banks have a few key features:
- They can’t take deposits or make loans
- They can hold onto assets and convert them for people
- and they can provide settlement services without all the extra responsibilities that come with full-service banking
This makes trust banks attractive to stablecoin issuers who want the benefits of regulation without sacrificing the flexibility of a crypto-native company.
Trying to Balance Risk and Demand
World Liberty is positioning this trust as a service for institutional players such as exchanges, market makers, and investment firms who need a bank-level framework to hold and convert their assets. They say they’re going to comply with the GENIUS Act and anti-money laundering and sanctions screening requirements.
Of course, there’s a lot of potential scrutiny here – some critics point out that this Trump-linked stablecoin is now operating in regulated finance, which creates potential conflicts of interest. World Liberty says, though, that the Trump family has only a non-voting interest and isn’t going to be involved in day-to-day operations, which should help mitigate some of those risks.
By combining all of this – regulatory compliance, institutional demand, and some pretty slick crypto tech- World Liberty is pushing to make USD1 a first-class payment solution.
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