World Liberty Financial filed for a national trust bank charter on Jan. 7, 2026, aiming to place its USD1 stablecoin operations under federal banking supervision. The filing is positioned as a path to expand institutional issuance, custody, and on-ramp/off-ramp services for USD1 as a compliance-forward digital dollar.
The application proposes creating World Liberty Trust Company (WLTC) as a purpose-built national trust bank to issue and custody USD1, which is described as having reached roughly $3.3 billion in circulation since its March 2025 launch. Company materials frame the charter as a cornerstone for scaling USD1 across cross-border payments, settlement, and treasury workflows for professional counterparties.
What the Charter Would Operationalize
WLTC’s application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency seeks to consolidate issuance, custody, and conversion flows inside a regulated depository structure. The stated goal is to bring stablecoin operations into a single supervised vehicle that institutional users can underwrite more comfortably.
The filing and related materials describe a product set built around issuance and redemption, custody for USD1 and other accepted stablecoins, and fee-free conversions at launch to accelerate onboarding. The operational pitch is that institutional clients can move between rails with lower friction while staying inside a clearer supervisory perimeter.
USD1 is described as fully backed by U.S. dollars held at regulated depository institutions and short-duration U.S. Treasury obligations, while operating across multiple chains including Ethereum, Solana, BNB Smart Chain, and TRON. The multi-chain setup is presented as a way to pair near-instant settlement with reserve and custody positioning meant to meet institutional expectations.
Governance, Scrutiny, and the Adoption Test
The filing frames the charter as aligned with the recently enacted GENIUS Act, arguing that federal oversight can reduce regulatory ambiguity for financial institutions that might otherwise avoid privately issued stablecoins. WLTC is positioned as a way to bring USD1 “fully onshore” and tighten expectations around reserve custody and compliance standards.
At the same time, the company’s familial links to the former president have drawn heightened public and political attention, with lawmakers raising concerns about conflicts of interest and governance. The reputational overhang is part of the risk calculus because counterparties may hesitate until oversight expectations and the charter process are fully clarified.
WLTC’s messaging emphasizes trust and compliance as differentiators, calling the proposed bank “purpose-built for stablecoin operations.” The competitive claim is that regulatory intent and operational focus can translate into deeper institutional comfort with issuance, custody, and settlement use cases.
For market participants, the practical question is whether a federal charter changes the liquidity and custody math quickly enough to drive adoption. A charter could lower perceived counterparty and custody risk and increase demand for USD1 in settlement and treasury contexts, but scrutiny could also slow migration of large liquidity pools.
Now the focus shifts to the OCC review and any subsequent supervisory determinations, which will define the boundaries for how WLTC can operate in practice. If the charter is secured and fee-free on-ramps scale as described, it could create measurable channels for USD liquidity to move on-chain and influence stablecoin supply dynamics across issuers.