A structure linked to Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan has secured a 49% ownership in WLTC Holdings, a holding company established by World Liberty Financial (WLFI) for banking operations. The Trump family’s associated company holds an additional 38%, according to a report by WSJ.
In August, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the U.S. provisionally approved WLFI's application to launch a national trust bank. This bank is expected to handle the issuance, redemption, and custody of USD1, as well as provide services for the storage of crypto assets.
Before commencing operations, the company must fulfill several regulatory requirements and undergo a final review.
Tahnoun Retains Stake in Banking Venture
The share held by UAE investors is structured through StringZ Holding RSC, which was registered in Abu Dhabi in April 2025 and in Delaware a month later.
As reported by WSJ, Tahnoun and his co-investors are behind StringZ. He serves as a national security advisor for the UAE and is the brother of the country's president, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
In February, it was revealed that another entity linked to Tahnoun, Aryam Investment 1, invested $500 million directly into World Liberty Financial, acquiring 49% of the company. The investors retained the same stake in the banking segment through StringZ Holding.
During the consideration of the application, the OCC required three major shareholders, including StringZ Holding and the Trump family structure, to sign passive ownership agreements. They committed to not seeking control over the bank or interfering in its management.
According to WSJ, such conditions are rarely applied when granting banking licenses.
Bank to Manage USD1 Operations
WLFI began establishing its banking division in July 2025, following the enactment of the GENIUS Act, which allows certain stablecoin issuers to directly hold reserve assets backing their tokens.
Currently, BitGo is responsible for the issuance of USD1 while also acting as the custodian for reserves, sharing in the revenue from their deployment. Once World Liberty secures its final license, the company can transfer these functions to its bank and introduce client crypto asset storage services for a fee.
As of the time of this report, the market capitalization of WLFI's stablecoin stands at $4.08 billion.
Source: CoinMarketCap.Ownership Structure Raises Congressional Concerns
The connection between UAE investors and the future bank has previously raised questions among Congressional Democrats.
In February, Senator Elizabeth Warren requested OCC head Jonathan Gould to disclose information regarding Tahnoun's potential involvement in the banking project. Subsequently, a group of 40 lawmakers expressed concerns about risks associated with foreign ownership, national security, and the independence of the banking license issuance process.
In a comment to WSJ, the OCC stated that WLFI's application was being reviewed by agency staff with the involvement of ethics experts. A representative from World Liberty confirmed this but did not disclose details about the ownership structure. The White House has previously dismissed allegations of conflicts of interest involving the president.
Trump's Crypto Project Investors Face $4.7 Billion Losses
On August 27, Public Citizen estimated that investors in Trump-related crypto projects have collectively lost at least $4.7 billion, with much of this amount stemming from unrealized losses—meaning the funds were not directly transferred to the president or his companies.
Source: Public Citizen.Analysts linked the majority of these losses to the meme coin TRUMP, accounting for about $3.2 billion. An additional $1 billion is attributed to the WLFI token, approximately $450 million to the Trump Media crypto treasury, and $9.3 million to the Trump Digital Trading Cards NFT collection.
The report referenced data from Nansen, indicating that out of roughly 31,000 retail addresses that purchased WLFI via decentralized exchanges on Ethereum, 82% were in the red as of early August.
The total loss for these wallets reached $54 million. However, this data does not encompass transactions on centralized platforms, where a significant portion of the token's trading activity occurs.
Trump reportedly earned at least $1.4 billion in revenue from crypto-related projects in 2025, according to his official declaration released in late June. At that time, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly rejected accusations of conflicts of interest.
It is worth noting that a Reuters poll conducted in August revealed that most Americans view the profits made by Trump and his family from cryptocurrencies as inappropriate.