Trump-Linked Crypto Bank Gets Approval to Operate Despite Criticisms of Favoritism and Corruption

The Trump family's crypto bank, World Liberty Financial Trust Company, received conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to start a bank. The company is partly owned by an entity affiliated with Donald Trump and his family members, holding about 38% stake.

The new bank won't lend money to businesses or individuals, issue mortgage or credit cards, or get federal insurance on deposits. Instead, it will directly issue the Trumps' dollar-pegged stablecoin, USD1. Stablecoins are pegged at fixed values and used almost exclusively to buy and sell riskier crypto assets.

Experts point out that there's almost no risk for World Liberty Financial Trust Company to lose money. The sole logical motivation for depositors to put in their funds is the prospect of a financial connection to the US president and his relatives, according to James Angel, an associate professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.