World Liberty Financial wins preliminary national bank trust charter approval

World Liberty Financial secured preliminary approval for a national bank trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, marking the first time a crypto-focused firm has advanced this far in the federal charter process. The conditional nod allows the company to begin organizing as a nationally chartered trust bank, subject to ongoing supervisory review. If finalized, the charter would grant World Liberty Financial authority to provide custody, asset management, and fiduciary services for digital assets under the same regulatory framework that governs traditional trust banks. Crypto Briefing first reported the development, citing OCC correspondence confirming the preliminary decision. The comptroller's office has not released a public order or specified the remaining conditions World Liberty must satisfy before a final charter issues. **What the charter enables** A national trust charter differs from a full national bank charter in that it prohibits commercial lending and deposit-taking. The institution can, however, hold and manage client assets, including cryptocurrencies, under OCC examination and Federal Reserve oversight. This structure has been used by firms such as Anchorage Digital Bank and Paxos Trust Company, both of which operate as state-chartered trust companies with federal oversight pathways. World Liberty Financial would become the first entity with direct ties to a political family, the Trump organization holds a stake, to reach this stage in the OCC process. The firm has not disclosed its capitalization, leadership roster, or the specific digital assets it intends to custody. | Ethereum dominance | 11.3% | CoinGecko | **Procedural path ahead** The preliminary approval triggers a supervisory period during which the OCC evaluates the applicant's capital adequacy, risk management, anti-money-laundering program, and board composition. The comptroller's office typically requires a minimum of 120 days for final determination after preliminary approval, though complex or novel applications can extend beyond that window. World Liberty Financial must also satisfy any conditions the OCC attached to the preliminary nod. Those conditions are not public. The firm has not announced a target date for operational launch. Bitcoin traded near $58,400 on August 24, down 1.6% over the prior 24 hours alongside a broader market cap decline of 1.62%. Trading volume across centralized and decentralized venues reached $88.8 billion, suggesting active repositioning rather than passive drift. The charter development arrives as the OCC faces congressional scrutiny over its pace of fintech charter approvals. Lawmakers in both parties have questioned whether the agency has adequate examiner capacity to supervise novel crypto custodians alongside traditional trust banks.