World Liberty Financial’s proposed US trust bank has drawn a major Abu Dhabi backer, with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and co-investors reportedly controlling 49% of the holding company behind the federally chartered venture.
Summary
- Sheikh Tahnoon’s group reportedly backs StringZ Holding, which owns 49% of the holding company behind World Liberty’s proposed US trust bank.
- A Trump family affiliated entity reportedly owns another 38% of WLTC Holdings.
- The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company on Aug. 14, with final authorization still required before operations can begin.
- The proposed bank would handle issuance, redemption and custody of World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin.
- Tahnoon previously backed a $500 million deal for a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 27, citing people familiar with the matter, that Tahnoon’s group is behind StringZ Holding RSC, which owns 49% of WLTC Holdings, the company formed around World Liberty Trust Company. An entity affiliated with US President Donald Trump’s family owns another 38%, one person familiar with the structure told the newspaper.
The reported ownership comes two weeks after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval to operate as a national trust bank. The OCC’s Aug. 14 decision lists StringZ among the investors in WLTC Holdings, although the published document does not identify Tahnoon as its backer or disclose the size of its holding.
Under the proposed structure, World Liberty Trust Company would take over issuance and redemption of World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin, manage the reserves supporting the token and provide digital asset custody services. The company’s January application also proposed institutional custody and conversion services once the bank becomes operational.
World Liberty Financial bank remains subject to final OCC approval
World Liberty Trust Company cannot begin operating under the charter yet.
The OCC’s preliminary approval requires the company to satisfy its pre-opening conditions before the regulator grants final authorization. World Liberty had moved closer to approval by June, when former OCC officials told NOTUS that the Trump-linked company was widely expected to secure the national trust bank charter.
Its application describes WLTC Holdings as the sponsor of a de novo national trust company based in Florida. World Liberty Trust Company would not carry Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insurance, and its proposed business would focus on trust activities, stablecoin operations and digital asset custody.
The bank would also manage the reserves backing USD1. World Liberty’s application said those reserves would include US dollars held at financial institutions, US government money market funds and cash equivalents, with USD1 designed to maintain a one-to-one value against the dollar.
As part of its approval process, the OCC required three shareholders to sign commitments limiting their ability to influence management or control the bank, according to the Journal. StringZ was among the shareholders subject to those commitments, alongside a Trump family-affiliated entity and another shareholder associated with World Liberty co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro.
StringZ’s commitment was signed by Hamad Khlfan Ali Matar Alshamsi, according to the report. Alshamsi previously served as a director at G42, the Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence company chaired by Tahnoon.
Tahnoon previously backed a 49% World Liberty stake
The reported bank investment follows Tahnoon’s earlier financial ties to World Liberty Financial itself.
A Tahnoon-backed investment vehicle acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for about $500 million shortly before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, according to earlier reporting. Crypto.news previously reported that the $500 million investment was made through Aryam Investment 1 and was signed by Eric Trump.
The investment placed Tahnoon-linked capital among World Liberty’s largest shareholders. Another crypto.news report said the transaction was completed four days before Trump’s inauguration and that Trump later said he had no knowledge of the deal, saying his sons and family handled the business.
Tahnoon serves as the UAE’s national security adviser and is the brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He also chairs G42, which has become one of Abu Dhabi’s main artificial intelligence companies.
The US government authorized exports of advanced artificial intelligence chips to G42 in November 2025 after Washington and Abu Dhabi had reached an AI cooperation framework earlier that year. The timing of US technology policy toward the UAE and Tahnoon’s investment in World Liberty later became part of questions raised by Democratic lawmakers.
In February, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim sought a national security review of the investment and asked whether the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States had examined the transaction. Their request also questioned whether foreign investors could obtain influence over World Liberty or access information connected to the company’s financial operations.
The lawmakers’ request followed calls for a CFIUS probe into the reported UAE investment and its ownership terms.
USD1 would move under the proposed trust bank
World Liberty’s banking application places USD1 at the core of the proposed institution.
Launched in 2025, the dollar-pegged token was initially issued with reserves consisting of short-term US Treasuries, cash deposits and other cash equivalents. Its circulation later rose into the billions of dollars as World Liberty expanded distribution and institutional use.
By June 2026, USD1’s circulating supply had reached about $4.4 billion while World Liberty continued pursuing its trust bank charter, according to earlier USD1 coverage.
One of the token’s largest early transactions was tied to Abu Dhabi. MGX, an investment company chaired by Tahnoon, used USD1 for a $2 billion investment into Binance in 2025, bringing the stablecoin into a large institutional transaction shortly after its launch. The deal also drew political attention in Washington because of World Liberty’s links to the Trump family and Tahnoon’s role in the UAE government.
World Liberty’s proposed bank would bring issuance, redemption and reserve management for USD1 inside a federally supervised national trust company if the OCC grants final approval. Its filing also allows the trust company to provide digital asset custody to institutional clients.
Lawmakers have continued examining World Liberty’s foreign ties
World Liberty’s ownership and bank application have remained under congressional scrutiny as regulators consider the trust company’s final authorization.
During the OCC review, Democratic lawmakers questioned Comptroller Jonathan Gould over how the agency would handle a bank application connected to the president’s family. Gould said during a June House Financial Services Committee hearing that the application would be assessed under existing banking law and government ethics requirements, as reported during the charter review.
The Journal reported that OCC officials said career staff handled World Liberty’s application and consulted experienced government ethics officials during the review. A World Liberty spokesperson separately said career OCC staff evaluated the filing against the statutory, regulatory and policy requirements governing bank charter applications.
The OCC’s published Aug. 14 decision confirms that World Liberty Trust Company received preliminary conditional approval and that StringZ is among its investors. Final authorization remains dependent on World Liberty satisfying the regulator’s conditions before opening the trust bank.
