UAE's Tahnoon owns 49% of Trump's new federal crypto bank
OCC approved a federal trust bank for Trump's crypto venture; UAE's Sheikh Tahnoon holds the largest stake. $263 million flowed to Trump entities. CFIUS review and final authorization pending.
On August 14, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval for a federally regulated national trust bank controlled by WLTC Holdings LLC. The holding company's largest shareholder is not the Trump family but an entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE's national security advisor.
The approval capped a 221-day review process. It came one month after the Commerce Department upgraded the UAE to its highest export control tier, easing restrictions on advanced AI chip shipments to firms like G42, which Tahnoon also controls.
Ownership and Financial Flows
StringZ Holding RSC, an entity backed by Tahnoon and co-investors, holds 49% of WLTC Holdings. An entity affiliated with President Donald Trump and certain family members owns 38%. The remaining shares belong to associates of World Liberty Financial co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro.
The roots of Tahnoon's involvement trace back to January 2025, four days before Trump's inauguration. Tahnoon and fellow investors committed $500 million to World Liberty Financial in exchange for a 49% stake. Of that, $263 million flowed to Trump family entities, according to Trump's 2025 financial disclosure.
The OCC's approval authorizes World Liberty Trust Company to issue and redeem USD1, a stablecoin with more than $4 billion in circulation. The bank will not accept deposits or issue loans. It will not carry FDIC insurance. It will not deal in WLFI governance tokens.
Regulatory and National Security Questions
Senator Elizabeth Warren has drawn a direct line between the policy decisions and the Trump family's financial relationship with Tahnoon. In an August 2026 letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Warren pressed for answers about whether the UAE's access to sensitive U.S. technology was influenced by Tahnoon's crypto investments.
Trump signed the GENIUS Act on July 18, 2025, creating the first federal framework for payment stablecoins. The OCC's approval is conditioned on compliance with that law. Critics argue the president cannot sign laws, appoint regulators, and then profit through a family business that those regulators approve.
The stablecoin's concentration risk is notable. Binance held roughly 87% of USD1's total supply as of February 2026. That same month, USD1 briefly lost its dollar peg, falling to $0.994 during what World Liberty described as a "coordinated attack." The peg was restored within hours.
World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff said: "USD1 grew because institutions trust how it operates, and confidence at enterprise scale deserves the backing of federal supervision."
Final authorization requires meeting preopening conditions including a $20 million capital floor. The OCC expects to finalize its GENIUS Act implementation rules by November 2026.
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