UAE national security adviser takes 49% stake in Trump family's crypto bank venture

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval on August 14, 2026, for World Liberty Trust Company to operate as a national trust bank. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE's national security adviser, holds a 49% stake in the bank's holding company, WLTC Holdings, while a Trump family entity holds 38%. To address regulatory concerns, the OCC secured passivity commitments from key investors, though Democratic lawmakers have raised national security concerns.

Sheikh Tahnoon WLTC Holdings stake

• ▪Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan backed a $500 million investment in World Liberty Financial in exchange for a 49% stake in January 2025, four days before Donald Trump's inauguration
• ▪Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and his co-investors hold their 49% stake in WLTC Holdings through an entity called StringZ Holding RSC
• ▪Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' national security adviser, and co-investors hold a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings, the holding company behind World Liberty Financial's proposed bank
• ▪An entity affiliated with United States President Donald Trump's family owns a 38% stake in WLTC Holdings

OCC national trust bank approval

• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval to operate as a national trust bank on August 14, 2026
• ▪The proposed national trust bank would bring the issuance, redemption, custody, and conversion of World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin under a federally supervised venture
• ▪The proposed World Liberty Trust Company national trust bank has 12 months to raise capital and 18 months from August 14, 2026, to begin operations

USD1 stablecoin reserve revenue

• ▪World Liberty Trust Company plans to take over USD1 stablecoin reserves from BitGo to keep all yield from three-month Treasury bills in-house, estimated at up to $150 million annually
• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency set a minimum tier 1 capital requirement of $20 million for World Liberty Trust Company, with half required to be in liquid assets
• ▪The USD1 stablecoin is not a deposit and carries no Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage
• ▪World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin has a market capitalization of approximately $4.1 billion, ranking as the 24th largest crypto asset

Regulatory passivity commitment requirements

• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency collected passivity commitments from DT Marks SC LLC, StringZ Holding RSC, and AMGUS LLC to prevent them from steering World Liberty Trust Company
• ▪The passivity commitments require the signing entities to forgo board seats and influence over dividends, pricing, personnel, or operations, and to hand any voting stake above 9.9% to management by proxy
• ▪Eric F. Trump signed a passivity commitment as president of DT Marks SC LLC, while Hamad Khlfan Ali Matar Alshamsi signed for StringZ Holding RSC and Zachary Folkman signed for AMGUS LLC

Democratic congressional conflict investigations

• ▪White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly stated that there are no conflicts of interest regarding President Donald Trump's involvement with World Liberty Financial
• ▪Senate Democrats and Representative Ro Khanna have launched investigations and demanded congressional hearings into the United Arab Emirates' investments in World Liberty Financial
• ▪United States Senator Elizabeth Warren urged Comptroller Jonathan Gould to delay the charter review for World Liberty Trust Company until President Donald Trump divests

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