Invest Independently confirmed 3 publishers 3 min read Published Aug 28, 2026, 6:00 AM PDT Updated Sep 13, 2026, 1:13 PM PDT

An Abu Dhabi royal group and the Trump family hold 87% of USD1's chartered custodian

The Wall Street Journal puts StringZ Holding at 49% of WLTC Holdings and a Trump family entity at 38%, which leaves 13% for everyone else, with the OCC's signed non-control letters standing as the documented limit on that influence.

The Investor · Invest desk

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What happened

The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 27, citing people familiar, that Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan's group is behind StringZ Holding RSC, owner of 49% of WLTC Holdings.
An entity affiliated with President Donald Trump's family owns another 38% of the same holding company, according to one person who described the structure to the Journal.
The OCC gave World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval as a national trust bank on Aug. 14, and it cannot open until pre-opening conditions are met and final authorization issues.
The proposed bank would handle USD1 issuance and redemption, manage the reserves behind the token, and provide digital asset custody.

Why it matters

Who's exposed exposure Reserve management for a dollar-pegged token would sit inside a federally chartered institution whose largest reported economic claimant is a group led by the UAE's national security adviser, whose AI company Washington cleared for advanced chip exports in November 2025.
What it limits constraint With 87% of the holdco in two hands, the OCC's signed non-control commitments are the documented limit on that influence, so the final authorization terms carry weight that the ownership split cannot.
What doesn't add up contradiction The regulator's published decision names StringZ but neither identifies its backer nor sizes its stake, so the public record and the Journal's account diverge on precisely the fact a depositor or policymaker would price.
What it sets up precedent Clearing final approval with a 49/38 split intact would set the template for sovereign-adjacent foreign capital taking the largest slice of a US-chartered crypto custodian, with letters of intent substituting for dilution.

Next story · Invest · Oct 5

Modern Treasury asks the OCC for a trust bank to hold its payment clients' stablecoins

Confirmed3 publishers

Add the two disclosed stakes and you get 87%, which means the residual in WLTC Holdings is 13% or less, and that residual is where the shareholder associated with World Liberty co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro sits, alongside whoever else the published record does not name ^[18]^[8]. Concentration at the holdco is the story, because the holdco is the sponsor of a de novo Florida trust company that would carry no FDIC insurance and would exist to issue, redeem and custody one token ^[13]^[7].

The figure 49 is doing double duty here. It appears at the bank holding company ^[1], and it appeared a level up in January 2025, when a Tahnoon-backed vehicle bought 49% of World Liberty Financial itself for about $500 million through Aryam Investment 1, signed by Eric Trump, four days before the inauguration ^[4]^[16]. Divide $500 million by 0.49 and the implied value of the whole token business at that moment was roughly $1.02 billion ^[19]. Trump later said he had no knowledge of that deal and that his sons handled the business ^[16].

What the OCC actually did about all this was paper: three shareholders, StringZ among them, signed commitments limiting their ability to influence management or control the bank, according to the Journal ^[8]. StringZ's commitment was signed by Hamad Khlfan Ali Matar Alshamsi, previously a director at G42 ^[15], the Abu Dhabi AI company chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon, who is also the UAE's national security adviser and brother of the UAE president ^[5], and to which Washington authorized exports of advanced AI chips in November 2025 ^[6]. Democratic senators had already asked for hearings on whether the earlier $500 million purchase influenced US policy toward the UAE ^[10]. Cointelegraph asked the Trump Organization for comment and got none ^[11].

Here is the gap in the record: neither report gives the price StringZ paid for its 49% of the holdco, nor a figure for USD1 outstanding, nor who books the income on reserves that the application says would sit in dollars at financial institutions, government money market funds and cash equivalents ^[20]^[14]. The OCC's own August 14 decision lists StringZ as an investor and stops there, identifying neither Tahnoon nor the size of the stake, which the Journal supplied 13 days later ^[9]^[21].

This is probably wrong, but the thing being assembled functions as a federal charter with resale value as much as a stablecoin: institutional custody and conversion services were in the January application ^[12], and a chartered non-FDIC custodian sells to clients regardless of what USD1 does. The counter-thesis is that nothing here operates yet, since final authorization is still pending and pre-opening conditions remain to be met ^[3], however confidently former OCC officials told NOTUS in June that approval was expected ^[17]. Until those conditions clear, the value of that 49% stake in a Florida trust company with no operations remains undisclosed, since no purchase price has been made public ^[20].

What to watch

Whether the OCC's final authorization attaches conditions touching StringZ's 49% or the Trump entity's 38%, or requires either to come down.
Whether a Senate hearing is actually scheduled on the Aryam Investment 1 purchase and US policy toward the UAE.
Any disclosure of what StringZ paid for its holdco stake, or of USD1 reserve size once the trust company files.

Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.

Clarity's read

What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.

Reality

Evidence58
Adoption35
Hype gap+15
Incentives68
Confidence62

Perspective Coverage

3 publishers

Builder: Builder 8%
Operator: Operator 37%
Investor: Investor 55%

Why these scores

Claim ledger

Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.

[1]
The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 27, citing people familiar with the matter, that Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan's group is behind StringZ Holding RSC, which owns 49% of WLTC Holdings, the company formed around World Liberty Trust Company.
Reported Supported Source: Wall Street Journal, via crypto.newsView cited source
[2]
An entity affiliated with US President Donald Trump's family owns another 38% of WLTC Holdings, one person familiar with the structure told the Journal.
Reported Supported Source: Wall Street Journal, via crypto.newsView cited source
[3]
The OCC granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval to operate as a national trust bank on Aug. 14, and the company must satisfy pre-opening conditions before the regulator grants final authorization; it cannot begin operating yet.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[4]
A Tahnoon-backed investment vehicle acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for about $500 million shortly before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025; crypto.news previously reported the investment was made through Aryam Investment 1 and signed by Eric Trump.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[5]
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan serves as the UAE's national security adviser, is the brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and chairs G42.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[6]
The US authorized exports of advanced AI chips to G42 in November 2025, months after Washington and Abu Dhabi agreed a broader AI cooperation framework.
Reported Supported
[7]
The proposed bank would take over issuance and redemption of World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin, manage the reserves supporting the token, and provide digital asset custody services.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[8]
The OCC required three shareholders to sign commitments limiting their ability to influence management or control the bank, according to the Journal: StringZ, a Trump family-affiliated entity, and another shareholder associated with World Liberty co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro.
Reported Supported Source: Wall Street Journal, via crypto.newsView cited source
[9]
The OCC's published Aug. 14 decision lists StringZ among the investors in WLTC Holdings but does not identify Tahnoon as its backer or disclose the size of its holding.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[10]
Democratic senators called for hearings into the $500 million purchase of 49% of World Liberty Financial and whether it influenced US policy toward the UAE.
Reported Supported
[11]
Cointelegraph contacted the Trump Organization for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Reported Supported
[12]
World Liberty Trust Company's January application also proposed institutional custody and conversion services once the bank becomes operational.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[13]
The application describes WLTC Holdings as the sponsor of a de novo national trust company based in Florida, and World Liberty Trust Company would not carry Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insurance.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[14]
World Liberty's application said USD1 reserves would include US dollars held at financial institutions, US government money market funds and cash equivalents, with USD1 designed to maintain a one-to-one value against the dollar.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[15]
StringZ's commitment was signed by Hamad Khlfan Ali Matar Alshamsi, who previously served as a director at G42, the Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence company chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon.
Reported Supported Source: Wall Street Journal, via crypto.newsView cited source
[16]
The transaction was completed four days before Trump's inauguration, and Trump later said he had no knowledge of the deal, saying his sons and family handled the business.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[17]
By June, former OCC officials told NOTUS that the Trump-linked company was widely expected to secure the national trust bank charter.
Reported SupportedView cited source
[18]
StringZ's 49% and the Trump family entity's 38% together account for 87% of WLTC Holdings, leaving at most 13% for all other shareholders.
Derived Supported
[19]
About $500 million for 49% of World Liberty Financial implies a value of roughly $1.02 billion for the whole business at the time of the January 2025 purchase.
Derived Supported
[20]
Neither report states the price StringZ paid for its 49% of WLTC Holdings, the amount of USD1 outstanding, or who receives the income earned on USD1 reserves.
Derived Supported
[21]
Thirteen days separated the OCC's Aug. 14 preliminary conditional approval and the Journal's Aug. 27 report identifying StringZ's backer and stake.
Derived Supported

Sources

3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.

cnbc.com
1 article · August 27, 2026
UAE ‘spy sheikh’ backs 49% stake in Trump family’s crypto bank venture, WSJ reports
cointelegraph.com
2 articles · August 27, 2026
Abu Dhabi royal backs 49% stake in Trump-linked crypto bank venture: WSJ
crypto.news
1 article · August 28, 2026
Sheikh Tahnoon reportedly controls 49% stake in World Liberty bank holding firm

Clarity analysis

How the coverage leans and what the record actually supports. Read the methodology

Perspective Coverage

How much of the coverage speaks to builders, operators and investors. It measures emphasis, not whether the story is right.

Builder8%

For anyone integrating USD1, the only change on offer is the counterparty. crypto.news read the January application and is the sole source for what would sit behind the token. That would be US dollars at financial institutions, US government money market funds and cash equivalents, with the peg held at one-to-one. If final authorization comes, issuance, redemption, reserve management and custody all move inside World Liberty Trust Company, a Florida de novo trust company without FDIC insurance. The pre-opening conditions it has to clear are not published in any of these accounts, so there is no date to plan around.

Operator37%

The token is in use and the institution meant to run it is not open. crypto.news puts USD1's circulating supply near $4.4 billion as of June 2026, and the OCC's approval is preliminary: World Liberty Trust Company has to satisfy pre-opening conditions before it can operate. For a desk holding or routing USD1, that makes custody and redemption the live questions, because both would sit with an uninsured trust company whose holding vehicle is 87% owned by two shareholders, one of them a serving foreign national security adviser. The signed non-control commitments are the documented limit on that, and only crypto.news names who signed for StringZ: Hamad Khlfan Ali Matar Alshamsi, a former G42 director.

Investor55%

Two shareholders hold 87% of WLTC Holdings, which leaves at most 13% for everyone else. CNBC follows the cash from the earlier round, reporting that the January 2025 investment sent $263 million to Trump family entities according to Trump's 2025 annual financial disclosure, and that his businesses booked at least $59.5 million in foreign licensing revenue in the first year of the term. The $500 million paid for 49% of World Liberty Financial implies a little over $1 billion for the whole company at that point. What StringZ paid for its stake in the bank's holding company was not disclosed in any of the three reports, and none of them says who keeps the income earned on USD1's reserves. On a $4.4 billion float, that income is the main revenue line.