White House meeting with crypto CEOs to set regulatory tone

President Donald Trump will host executives from Coinbase, Ripple, Chainlink, Kalshi, a16z, Paradigm and the Digital Chamber at the White House on Wednesday for a private discussion about crypto regulation, according to people familiar with the plans.

Trump is expected to speak at the gathering. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Mike Selig is also scheduled to address the attendees. Patrick Witt, who leads Trump's presidential council of advisers on digital assets, is expected to attend as well.

The meeting comes one day before the CFTC holds the first session of its newly created 35-member Innovation Advisory Committee on Thursday.

The White House event follows a separate regulatory move involving Trump's own crypto venture. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an agency inside the Treasury Department, gave conditional preliminary approval to a national trust bank application from World Liberty Trust Company, the banking arm of World Liberty Financial. Trump and members of his family launched the crypto business in late 2024.

World Liberty Trust applied for the license in January. The OCC approval would let the company issue the USD1 stablecoin directly and hold the dollar reserves backing the token. BitGo currently performs that role for World Liberty Trust.

World Liberty called the OCC approval a milestone in its plan to establish the bank.

Zach Witkoff, president and chairman of World Liberty Trust, said: "A national trust bank brings USD1 issuance, custody, and reserve management together under OCC supervision, examined on the same standards that have governed banks for generations. We welcome continuous scrutiny from Federal regulators for many years to come."

World Liberty must maintain at least $20 million in capital, hire a qualified internal auditor, and notify the OCC before making major changes to its business plan.

Ripple and Circle Internet Group have received similar provisional OCC approvals for national trust bank charters under Comptroller Jonathan Gould, whom Trump appointed last year.

The OCC approval letter also addressed concerns about foreign investors linked to World Liberty's parent company. The agency said those investors would not necessarily be considered controlling owners of the bank. Some foreign investors signed agreements to remain passive and not seek to influence the bank's decision-making.

Eric Trump, Donald Trump's son, signed one of those agreements while serving as president of an investment entity connected to the Trump family.

Zach Witkoff is the son of Steve Witkoff, Trump's special diplomatic envoy. The Witkoff family helped launch World Liberty Financial alongside Trump and his three sons. Robert Witkoff, Steve's brother and a former insurance executive, is expected to serve as a director of World Liberty Trust. Scott Alper, president of the Witkoff family's real estate business, has also been proposed as a director.

Democratic lawmakers have raised conflict-of-interest concerns about a bank owned by relatives of the president. At a congressional hearing in February, they pressed Gould for full, unredacted copies of World Liberty's application. The publicly available version omitted details on the company's capital structure and operations.

The OCC defended its handling of the application. In the approval letter, the agency said Gould and its staff "acted consistently with their statutory duties and ethical obligations." Career employees conducted the review, the OCC said, and nonpolitical examiners would oversee the bank if it begins operating.

Coinbase shares carry an Alpha Score of 33 out of 100, a Weak rating, according to AlphaScala's proprietary model. Circle Internet Group scores 28 out of 100, also Weak.