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When your dad is the president’s Middle East envoy, your company is majority-owned by a Trump-affiliated entity, and your stablecoin just landed a federal bank charter, the “cronyism” label is going to follow you around like a lost puppy. Zach Witkoff, co-founder and CEO of World Liberty Financial, is trying to shake it off.
In a recent CNBC appearance, Witkoff argued that USD1’s rapid growth from launch to a roughly $4-5 billion market cap speaks for itself. His pitch: markets don’t lie, and a stablecoin doesn’t crack the top five in circulation on name recognition alone.
The numbers behind the defense
USD1 launched in March 2025, backed primarily by US Treasuries and available on major platforms including Binance. In roughly 17 months, it climbed to a market capitalization in the $4-5 billion range, placing it among the five largest stablecoins in circulation.
Witkoff has also pointed to a regulatory milestone as evidence of legitimacy. In mid-August 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Financial preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank charter. If finalized, the charter would allow WLF to issue and custody USD1 directly, cutting out intermediary custodians and giving the company a more traditional banking foothold.
That approval, Witkoff has argued in both the CNBC interview and an August 20 Wall Street Journal op-ed, represents the kind of institutional validation that cronyism alone can’t buy.
The conflicts that won’t go away
A Trump-affiliated entity holds approximately 60% of World Liberty Financial. That entity is entitled to 75% of net proceeds from certain token sales. The Trump family has reportedly realized hundreds of millions of dollars from the venture already.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats have seized on the bank charter approval as unprecedented, questioning whether a company so deeply intertwined with the sitting president’s family should be receiving federal banking credentials.
In May 2025, Abu Dhabi-linked investment firm MGX used $2 billion in USD1 to fund an investment in Binance. WLF has also pursued international partnerships, including a reported deal with Pakistan for cross-border payments.
Governance growing pains
USD1 has experienced minor de-pegging events. More notably, governance disputes involving investor Justin Sun have added internal drama to the external scrutiny. Sun, the controversial crypto entrepreneur behind Tron, has been a significant WLF investor, and disagreements around governance have periodically surfaced.
Witkoff’s counter has been consistent: USD1’s scale, its Treasury-backed reserve structure, and its pending bank charter represent a stablecoin that strengthens demand for US government debt while providing a reliable digital dollar instrument.
What this means for the stablecoin market
If the OCC finalizes the charter, a federally chartered stablecoin issuer would occupy a more institutionally embedded position than Circle, which has long positioned USDC as the “regulated” alternative to Tether. The revenue-sharing structure that funnels 75% of certain proceeds to a Trump-affiliated entity and the ongoing regulatory uncertainty create risks that purely market-driven stablecoins don’t carry.
A change in administration could mean intensified scrutiny of every approval WLF has received. Conversely, if the current regulatory environment persists, WLF’s head start on a bank charter could prove to be an enormous competitive moat.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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