The Executive Search
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the DeFi protocol controlled by the Trump family, has initiated a search for a Chief Financial Officer to steer its proposed national trust bank. According to a Bloomberg report, the hire will specifically oversee the firm’s navigation of federal banking regulations, a mandate that places the appointee directly in the crosshairs of a brewing conflict of interest storm.
The recruitment drive follows the firm’s formal filing with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) earlier this month to establish the World Liberty Trust Company. If approved, the charter would allow the firm to custody digital assets and issue its stablecoin, USD1, under the same federal framework that governs JPMorgan or BNY Mellon.
The Numbers
Markets reacted negatively to the prolonged regulatory roadmap. The governance token, WLFI, slid 7% to $0.17 in early European trading, capping a 48% drawdown from its all-time high. Despite the volatility, the protocol’s fundamentals remain substantial:
- Stablecoin Supply: USD1 has grown to $3.3 billion in circulation since its March 2025 launch.
- Revenue Model: The Trump family and affiliates are entitled to 75% of net protocol revenue.
- Capitalization: The project raised over $550 million in initial token sales, providing a significant war chest for the legal battles ahead.
The Institutional Friction
The timing is aggressive. The OCC recently granted conditional trust charters to institutional natives like Circle and Paxos, signaling a willingness to integrate crypto rails. However, WLFI represents a unique anomaly: a bank application tied to the sitting U.S. President’s immediate family, reviewed by regulators appointed by his administration.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has already petitioned the OCC to freeze the application, citing unprecedented ethical entanglements.
“In effect, for the first time in history, the President of the United States would be in charge of overseeing his own financial company,” Senator Elizabeth Warren
The incoming CFO will likely face a dual mandate: satisfy the OCC’s rigorous capital liquidity requirements while managing a governance structure where political scrutiny is the primary risk vector.
