News linked to both this project and an event.
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved World Liberty Financial's trust license application. Ten Democratic senators signed a bill to prevent corruption in bank applications.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has conditionally approved World Liberty Financial's application for a national trust bank charter, subject to regulatory and policy requirements. Upon approval, the company may operate under the name World Liberty Trust Company, National Association. World Liberty Financial's application documents show that the bank plans to issue USD-backed stablecoins and custody digital assets related to its USD1 token. U.S. President Donald Trump and his three sons are all affiliated with the company, with Trump family entities holding a 38% stake. Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with nine other senators, introduced the Terminating Presidential Banking Corruption Act following the approval. Elizabeth Warren stated that the OCC's move represents one of the most blatant conflicts of interest in the U.S. financial system. In January 2025, an Abu Dhabi investment company backed by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million. Another UAE entity, MGX, previously used USD1 to invest $2 billion in Binance. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Friday granted initial conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, bringing Trump-backed World Liberty Financial one step closer to obtaining a national trust bank charter.In its letter, the OCC stated that World Liberty's charter application met certain regulatory and policy requirements, leading to the initial conditional approval. However, this does not constitute final approval, and the OCC may still rescind the approval.Earlier this year, World Liberty Financial established a new trust company with the aim of applying for a bank charter from the OCC. The company has previously stated that the charter would support its provision of services including stablecoin issuance and redemption, fiat on/off ramps, custody, and exchange. WLF currently issues the stablecoin USD1, which has a market cap of approximately $4 billion, making it the fourth-largest stablecoin after Tether and USDC.WLF CEO Zack Witkoff said on X on Friday that the company aims to build "the world's most trusted and widely used digital dollar" while strengthening the dollar's role in the global economy. Zack Witkoff is the son of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Overall, this approval could further strengthen WLF's position in the U.S. stablecoin and digital asset banking infrastructure, though its political ties may continue to raise regulatory and ethical concerns.
Odaily News: UAE-based foundation Aqua1 Foundation purchased $100 million worth of governance tokens from decentralized finance project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) on June 26, marking the largest single publicly disclosed purchase of the token to date. The funds trace back to Chinese businessman Guren "Bobby" Zhou, with up to $75 million flowing to entities linked to the Trump family and World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff. WLFI tokens confer governance and voting rights and do not represent equity in the company. Zhou was arrested in the UK in March 2021 on suspicion of money laundering, with UK law enforcement investigations still ongoing as of late July 2026. Two of his long-time employees were indicted in September 2025, one of whom has pleaded guilty, with trial scheduled for 2028. Zhou has not yet been formally charged. Zhou met with Eric Trump in Dubai to discuss the investment and described it as participation in the "Trump family's crypto project." The source of the $100 million Aqua1 used to purchase WLFI remains unclear, and public information does not indicate any direct link between these specific funds and money laundering activities. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News: CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost posted on platform X, stating that the cumulative trading volume of the Trump family-linked stablecoin USD1 on Binance has surpassed $50 billion. Data shows that since its launch over a year ago, USD1 has experienced rapid growth in trading scale. The stablecoin was launched by World Liberty Financial in March 2025, a project co-founded with the participation of the Trump family. USD1 is primarily backed by U.S. dollars and short-term U.S. Treasury assets, and adopts an institutional-oriented compliance framework. Currently, the market cap of USD1 has exceeded $4 billion.
Senator Warren questioned the US government's decision to relax AI chip export policies to the UAE over the UAE's investment in the Trump family's crypto company, World Liberty Financial.
Odaily News: U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the U.S. Department of Commerce to explain its policy toward the UAE, following the U.S. granting the UAE greater access to AI chip exports after UAE-linked entities invested in Trump-family-backed crypto project World Liberty Financial. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, it was mentioned that an Abu Dhabi entity invested $500 million in World Liberty Financial in January; another UAE-affiliated company used World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to complete a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance. The U.S. Department of Commerce previously reclassified the UAE as Country Group A:5, granting it greater access to license-free exports, including advanced chips. The department also stated it would "actively review" license applications involving exports of chips and servers to MGX, the UAE entity that completed the $2 billion Binance investment. Warren stated that the Commerce Department's actions raise significant questions about whether the president's crypto business interests could influence agency operations and national security. In June, several senators, including Warren, had already requested a hearing regarding the $500 million World Liberty Financial deal.
Odaily News – On July 30, the minority staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs released a new analysis raising Democratic objections to the amended draft of the CLARITY Act. The analysis states that Donald Trump’s 2025 crypto revenue amounts to approximately $1.4 billion, and that current ethics provisions still allow him to retain related business arrangements. The analysis reviews World Liberty Financial, the TRUMP meme coin, cryptocurrency investments, staking income, and other business activities, concluding that provisions restricting officials from issuing or sponsoring digital assets would not materially affect the aforementioned financial arrangements. Staff estimated approximately $799 million in revenue related to World Liberty Financial and approximately $635 million from the TRUMP meme coin. Trump’s annual financial disclosure report lists $635.1 million in royalties from a licensing agreement with CIC Digital LLC related to Celebration Coins, along with Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets each valued at over $50 million, and validator rewards obtained through staking agreements on Coinbase. The Senate draft of the CLARITY Act seeks to prohibit covered officials and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets for compensation during specified periods, while also establishing exceptions for qualified blind trusts, unauthorized third-party activities, continued use of an official’s likeness, and holding digital asset investments.
According to The Block, bipartisan Senators Thom Tillis (Republican) and Ruben Gallego (Democrat) submitted a new ethics compromise proposal to the White House on Thursday morning local time, attempting to break the deadlock in advancing the Clarity Act cryptocurrency legislation. Currently, there is less than a week left until the Senate recesses on August 7, but the bill still has not obtained the 60 votes required for passage. Democrats insist on adding stricter ethics provisions to constrain the Trump family's crypto interests, including the Meme coins they issued and the World Liberty Financial project in which the family participates, while some Republican senators have objections to the stablecoin interest provisions, worrying that it will divert deposits from traditional banks to the crypto sector. Although the draft leaked last week prohibited public officials and their spouses from issuing digital assets, it did not cover other family members, and included a "sunset clause" expiring in January 2029, which critics believe essentially nullifies the entire ethics provision. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent subsequently blamed the Democrats on X, stating that they "chose political gaming on the verge of a major victory". The Crypto Innovation Committee (CCI) warned that if the bill fails to pass, the US will hand over its global leadership position in the field of crypto regulation.
Odaily President Trump will meet on Thursday with Republican Senators Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis, along with White House crypto policy advisor Patrick Witt and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, to focus on the ethics provisions in the CLARITY Act. These provisions are considered one of the main obstacles to advancing the crypto market structure bill.Kristin Smith, President of the Solana Policy Institute, stated, "The purpose of the meeting is to present some proposals on the ethics issue to Trump and hope to gain his support. I believe this is a very positive signal." She described the meeting as crucial for pushing the CLARITY Act through.Earlier, it was disclosed that Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial had received hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto-related revenue, raising concerns among Democrats about potential conflicts of interest. (The Block)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated in an interview with CBS News that the recently disclosed revenue of approximately $1.4 billion earned by President Donald Trump through crypto projects poses no problem for the president. The financial disclosure shows that since the start of his second term, Trump has earned around $1.4 billion from crypto ventures, including the TRUMP meme coin and World Liberty Financial.Congressional Democrats have criticized this, arguing that there is a conflict of interest given that the current administration is seeking to ease cryptocurrency regulations. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly responded by stating that the disclosure reveals no conflict of interest. Additionally, Bessent expressed optimism about the U.S. economic outlook and noted that over 6 million Trump Accounts have been opened, a project aimed at helping minors invest in the stock market to improve financial literacy. (cbsnews)
U.S. President Trump’s newly released 927-page financial disclosure document reveals income including hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto-related earnings. Among these are millions of dollars in revenue linked to World Liberty Financial, the DeFi project launched by the Trump family in 2024. This disclosure has heightened the urgency of congressional negotiations over ethics provisions within the Clarity Act, the crypto market structure bill.Currently, bipartisan lawmakers are negotiating the Clarity Act, which aims to establish the first comprehensive federal crypto regulatory framework in the United States. A key focus of the negotiations is whether to include ethics restrictions preventing the President, Vice President, members of Congress, and other federal officials from profiting from digital assets while in office.Following the document's release, Democratic lawmakers reiterated that the bill must contain strict ethics clauses. Senator Angela Alsobrooks stated that such restrictions should apply to the President, Vice President, and all members of Congress. She noted that ordinary Americans should benefit from digital assets in a fair and honest manner, rather than allowing political figures to profit through corruption and institutional loopholes.Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also indicated that both parties are still advancing stringent ethics reforms, proposing to prohibit the President, Vice President, and lawmakers from using crypto assets for personal gain. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren argued that if the Clarity Act fails to prevent the President, members of Congress, and their families from profiting from the crypto industry, the bill would further fuel controversies surrounding Trump-related crypto corruption.Republicans, for their part, stated that ethics clauses remain part of the bipartisan negotiations. With the July window for advancing the Clarity Act approaching, the disclosure of Trump family crypto income could become a key variable influencing the final text of the bill and the level of Democratic support.
five Democratic senators urged a Republican committee chairman on Tuesday to immediately hold hearings to investigate a report that the UAE invested $500 million in the Trump family's crypto venture, World Liberty Financial.According to reports, an aide to the Abu Dhabi royal family signed an agreement four days before Trump's inauguration last year to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million. An advance payment of $218 million has been made to entities linked to Trump and his Middle East diplomat, Steve Witkoff, and their families. The senators confirmed that the backer is UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.Since Trump took office in January 2025, his administration has approved several deals favorable to the UAE, including a $1.4 billion weapons sale in May 2025 and authorization in November to sell 35,000 advanced AI chips worth over $1 billion to UAE-based G42. (financefeeds)
美国参议院民主党人敦促就特朗普家族加密公司 World Liberty Financial 与阿联酋达成的 5 亿美元投资协议举行听证会，质疑交易或影响国家安全决策。
Odaily, U.S. Senate Democrats have sent a letter to Republican leadership demanding an immediate hearing regarding the potential relationship between the Trump family's crypto project, World Liberty Financial, and the Abu Dhabi royal family.This follows a report by the Wall Street Journal that an investment entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, secretly acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial. The project is a DeFi and stablecoin venture, with Donald Trump and his three sons listed as advisors.According to the report, the deal was signed by Eric Trump four days before Trump's presidential inauguration in January 2025. The transaction was valued at $500 million, half of which was paid upfront. Approximately $187 million flowed to entities controlled by the Trump family, while at least $31 million went to entities linked to the family of World Liberty co-founder Steve Witkoff. Witkoff was later appointed as the U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East, and his son, Zach Witkoff, currently serves as CEO of World Liberty.The Trump side has stated that Trump was unaware of the $500 million investment and was not directly involved in the daily operations of World Liberty Financial. Democrats argue that the matter involves potential conflicts of interest between the president's family business interests, foreign capital, and government diplomatic roles, and have therefore called on the Republican-led Senate to launch an investigation as soon as possible.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto project backed by the Trump family, is expected to receive approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a national trust bank in the near future. Two former OCC employees who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that the application is almost certain to be approved.World Liberty Financial established a U.S. trust company in January of this year and submitted an application to the OCC. Obtaining a federal trust bank charter would allow the project to issue and redeem its USD1 stablecoin, manage reserves, provide digital asset custody, and offer conversion and settlement services under a single federal regulatory body, without relying on third-party intermediaries. Currently, the project's intermediary institution is BitGo. (The Block)
According to an official announcement, Gate has launched a limited-time USD1 staking program offering high yields. During the campaign period, users holding USD1 in their asset accounts (minimum holding requirement: 1 USD1) can earn up to 20% annualized yield. The annualized yield rate is adjusted daily based on the remaining monthly reward budget and the platform’s total effective USD1 holdings. The updated annualized yield rate is published daily around 14:00 (UTC+8). The system takes hourly snapshots of users’ USD1 balances to calculate the average holding amount for yield calculation. Yields are distributed to users’ asset accounts the following day. According to the announcement, USD1 is a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial. It is fully collateralized by U.S. Treasury bills and cash equivalents, designed to maintain a stable 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar. As a regulated, reserve-backed asset, USD1 delivers the same price stability as traditional cash—on-chain and in digital form.
Today, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing with banking regulators, focusing on stablecoin rules and the banking license application of World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture associated with the U.S. President.During the hearing, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould stated that the only political pressure the agency has felt regarding the decision to grant a banking license to World Liberty Financial came from Democrats, and he rejected allegations that the agency was following the President's directives. Additionally, FDIC Chairman Travis Hill indicated that the agency will soon propose a rule requiring stablecoin issuers to implement customer identification procedures. (coindesk)
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto project backed by the Trump family, stated that in light of recent updates to sanctions measures, the platform will continue to enforce risk-based sanctions compliance control mechanisms to fulfill legal and regulatory obligations in relevant jurisdictions.WLFI noted that transactions involving sanctioned individuals, entities, or related wallet addresses may be subject to enhanced scrutiny, rejection, restrictions, or other compliance measures. The platform reminds users that when transferring digital assets, they should ensure that the source of funds and original wallet addresses are not associated with sanctioned parties or prohibited activities.WLFI stated that if user transactions or accounts are affected during the compliance review process, its support team will assist users in completing the subsequent processing steps.
Bybit has officially launched its new “Hold USD1 to Earn Tokens” campaign. Users only need to complete Level 1 KYC verification and hold at least 1 USD1 in their Bybit account to share daily WLFI rewards—no subscription or lock-up required; rewards are earned simply by holding. The campaign begins on May 19, 2026, at 10:00 UTC. During the campaign period, users can earn up to a 20% annualized return and compete for a total reward pool of up to 45,000,000 WLFI—climbing the USD1 Holding Leaderboard. USD1 is a regulated stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, fully backed 1:1 by short-term U.S. Treasury securities and cash equivalents, and strictly pegged to the U.S. dollar. WLFI is the governance token of the World Liberty Financial ecosystem, enabling holders to participate in protocol governance and influence the ecosystem’s strategic direction. In this campaign, WLFI rewards will be distributed daily to USD1 holders on the Bybit platform. During the campaign, the system will take a snapshot of each user’s eligible USD1 balance once every hour—24 snapshots per day. WLFI rewards are expected to be credited to users’ main account funding wallets by approximately 06:00 UTC the following day.