Critics of the Trump administration are responding negatively to The Wall Street Journal‘s report that World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s “flagship crypto venture,” has received preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a federally chartered trust bank.
Zach Witkoff, co-founder and CEO of World Liberty Financial — and son of Trump’s U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, billionaire real estate mogul Steve Witkoff — wrote of the preliminary approval: “Our ambition is clear: to build the most trusted and widely used digital dollar in the world while strengthening the role of the U.S. dollar across the global economy.”
[NOTE: Zach Witkoff revealed the five-member board of the World Liberty Trust Company, National Association (WLTC), will include himself, his uncle Robert Witkoff, and former Witkoff Company executive Scott Alper.]
Exclusive: World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s flagship crypto venture, says its trust company has received preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to become a bank. https://t.co/NV8yJizZuX
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 14, 2026
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) responded: “This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen. I’m introducing a bill to stop this kind of unprecedented corruption.”
Republicans against Trump responded on X: “Endless corruption: The Trump administration has granted preliminary approval for a cryptocurrency venture backed by President Donald Trump’s family to operate a federally chartered trust bank, over the objection of Democrats who have decried the decision as riddled with conflicts of interest.”
Pulitzer Prize-winning former chief economics correspondent for The Washington Post, Jeff Stein, also criticized the Trump administration for the move. Stein responded: “Just so people are really aware of what this means: A Trump appointee has approved Trump’s personal crypto firm to operate as a bank Corporations can conduct transactions in which the Trump family gets a cut. The public will not have to be informed. There’s no precedent for this.”
Just so people are really aware of what this means: A Trump appointee has approved Trump’s personal crypto firm to operate as a bank
Corporations can conduct transactions in which the Trump family gets a cut
The public will not have to be informed
There’s no precedent for this https://t.co/b3ZY4BYczx
— Jeff Stein (@jstein_notus) August 15, 2026
In February 2025, President Trump nominated Jonathan V. Gould as Comptroller of the Currency, a position within the U.S. Department of the Treasury. During the first Trump administration, Gould served as the senior deputy comptroller and the chief counsel in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
In 2022, Gould served as chief legal officer for the blockchain firm Bitfury before becoming a partner at Jones Day in Washington, D.C., a powerful law firm.