A crypto bank tied to the Trump family just cleared a major regulatory hurdle — and nearly half of it is owned by a UAE spymaster. World Liberty Financial has won preliminary conditional approval for a federal trust-bank charter, opening a path to directly manage its USD1 stablecoin. The catch that has Washington’s attention: a 49% stake held by an entity linked to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser.

The approval

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval on August 27, 2026 for World Liberty Trust Company, National Association. The charter would let the venture directly issue and manage USD1 rather than rely on third parties — a significant step for a stablecoin business.

The 49% question

According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, Sheikh Tahnoon and co-investors sit behind an entity that owns 49% of the holding company for the planned bank. The stake traces to Aryam Investment 1, which agreed to pay $500 million for 49% of World Liberty Financial four days before the January 20, 2025 inauguration — a deal that ultimately directed about $263 million to Trump family entities, per Trump’s own financial disclosure.

Why the scrutiny

The optics are hard to ignore. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim asked the Treasury in February 2026 whether the $500 million investment should face a CFIUS national-security review. And the charter approval lands while the administration is making decisions that affect the UAE directly — including its access to advanced US AI chips. Supporters call it a legitimate fintech venture clearing a normal regulatory bar; critics see a foreign-government-linked stake in a bank tied to a sitting president, approved by that president’s own regulators. Both things are, uncomfortably, true at once.

Written for Red Robot with AI assistance and human editing. Based on reporting by The Wall Street Journal and CNBC.