The cryptocurrency company tied to President Trump is getting the green light to create its own federally chartered trust bank.
World Liberty Financial received preliminary approval from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to begin offering certain banking services.
The charter would not allow the company to take deposits or make loans, but would let the company directly manage its dollar-backed "stablecoin," whose tokens are meant to keep the same value as the U.S. dollar.
Critics say the move creates an unprecedented conflict of interest because President Trump appointed the regulators overseeing an industry that his family is now profiting from.
According to World Liberty Financial, "an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain of his family members" owns at least 38% of the business.
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Senate Democrats now plan legislation to block federal officials and their families from owning or controlling banks. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and other Democratic lawmakers plan to sponsor the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act.
"President Trump is now the first President in history to approve, operate, and supervise his own bank," Warren said in a statement announcing the new legislation. "This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen — and Congress cannot allow it to stand."
