A federal financial regulator has conditionally approved an application for a bank charter by an entity connected to World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm partially owned by President Donald Trump's family.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday gave conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Co.'s application for a national trust bank, according to a letter posted on the OCC's website.
The trust company is sponsored by World Liberty Financial, which says on its website it is 38% owned by "an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain of his family members."
The banking charter will enable World Liberty to issue stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency that is backed by safe reserve assets such as U.S. Treasurys and is convertible one-to-one into U.S. dollars.
World Liberty currently relies on a third party, BitGo, for some stablecoin services. Bringing those services in-house could be lucrative.
The charter application process won't be fully complete until the company completes additional steps, including raising capital.
World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff said in a statement that they welcome continuous scrutiny from federal regulators.
Some congressional Democrats, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have criticized the application due to Trump's financial stake in crypto.
