OCC Clears Trump Stablecoin Bank With Abu Dhabi Owner at 49%

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency cleared World Liberty Trust Company to issue and redeem USD1 on Aug. 14, granting the Trump family's stablecoin bank a national bank charter. The OCC collected passivity commitments from three entities before signing off. Eric Trump signed one. So did a manager for the Abu Dhabi entity that reportedly owns the largest piece of the bank.

Passivity commitments are how regulators stop big owners from steering a bank they are not supposed to run. The pledges bar board seats and any influence over dividends, pricing, personnel, or operations. Any voting stake above 9.9% goes to management by proxy, so the investor keeps the economic interest without the control.

WLTC Holdings, the Delaware company that owns the bank, copies World Liberty Financial's shareholder split.

The ownership split does not appear in the OCC's public decision. An entity tied to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan holds 49% of WLTC Holdings, according to the Wall Street Journal. A Trump family entity holds 38%. The regulator never lists percentages; both figures rest on people familiar with the matter.

Tahnoon runs the United Arab Emirates' national security service and is the brother of its president. In January 2025, investors associated with him invested $500 million in World Liberty. The deal closed four days before the inauguration.

The OCC took pledges from investors it did not formally treat as principal owners.

The Wall Street Journal called the commitments only the second set the OCC has demanded since Trump returned to office, a count based on the paper's own review rather than a public tally.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has pressed Comptroller Jonathan Gould to delay the charter review until the president divests. In a letter to the OCC, she wrote that "any financial connection between Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and an applicant for a national bank charter, especially one owned by the President, should be immediately disqualifying given the national security concerns."

Washington was weighing UAE access to advanced American chips while G42 waited on supply. Senate Democrats have demanded congressional hearings. World Liberty says career OCC staff reviewed the application. The White House reportedly denies any conflict.

The OCC set the bank's floor at "a minimum of $20 million in tier 1 capital," half of it in liquid assets. The capital does not back the coin; the reserves do. The bank needs about $1 of its own capital for every $205 of USD1 outstanding, a ratio BeInCrypto flagged as a concern.

USD1 holds its dollar peg at $0.9997. Its market value sits near $4.1 billion, ranking 24th among all crypto assets, BeInCrypto data shows.

The reserves are where the income sits. Three-month Treasury bills yielded 3.79% on Aug. 26, Treasury rates show. At that rate, $4.1 billion in reserves throws off roughly $155 million a year. World Liberty has estimated the annual yield at $150 million.

BitGo currently issues the coin and keeps part of the interest. The new bank plans to take the reserves over, so every dollar of yield stays in-house. JPMorgan has weighed its own stablecoin as banks rethink tokenized deposits, and the OCC charter puts a national bank directly in that business.

Stablecoins are not deposits, so USD1 carries no Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage. The Dallas Fed has separately warned that tokenized deposits could trigger bank rate wars.

The bank cannot open yet. A final examination still stands between the charter and the doors opening. BeInCrypto said the open question is whether that exam tests who owns the bank or only the paperwork saying the owners will stay quiet.

World Liberty Trust has 12 months to raise capital and 18 months from Aug. 14 to start business.