Democrats in the US House of Representatives are pressing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over how regulators are handling World Liberty Financial’s bid for a national trust bank charter to issue a dollar-backed token.
In a Feb. 19 letter, 41 House Financial Services Committee Democrats led by Representative Gregory Meeks cited systemic risk, foreign ownership and potential political pressure on the bank chartering process.
They asked Bessent to explain what safeguards exist to prevent foreign government officials or politically connected investors from using the charter process to gain leverage over the US financial system.
The lawmakers pointed to reporting that a senior royal from the United Arab Emirates quietly acquired nearly half of World Liberty Financial for roughly $500 million, including a reported $187 million flowing to Trump-affiliated entities, while the company pursued a national trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
They argued that the combination of digital asset trust structures, untested liquidity and resolution frameworks and foreign political interests raised questions that regulators “cannot afford to sidestep.”
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Democrats also questioned whether Executive Order 14215, which they say pulled traditionally independent financial regulators into closer White House oversight, could compromise the OCC’s autonomy in deciding on World Liberty’s application.
The letter asks Bessent to detail the role of the White House, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Treasury Department in OCC charter decisions, and to respond in writing by Feb. 26.
World Liberty Financial’s high profile
The letter arrives as World Liberty Financial and other Trump-aligned crypto initiatives raise their profile in Washington and on Wall Street, including through a well-attended crypto event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on Wednesday that drew crypto and traditional finance executives, such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.
In the run-up to the event, the WLFI token associated with the Trump family-aligned platform recorded a 23% gain as organizers promoted the event as a venue to spotlight World Liberty’s roadmap and its role in the broader crypto market.
No bailout of “cryptocurrency billionaires”
Separately, Senate Banking Committee Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren urged Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday not to deploy taxpayer-backed support to stabilize crypto markets. She warned that any bailout of “cryptocurrency billionaires” would create a moral hazard and shift losses from large investors onto taxpayers.
Warren’s letter framed potential rescue measures for major crypto firms and investors as a test of whether policymakers would extend bank-style backstops to the digital asset sector, as regulators weigh new charters and oversight for crypto-linked institutions.
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