U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, alongside Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ron Wyden, is demanding answers from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over what they call potential financial conflicts of interest involving President Donald Trump and his family’s deepening involvement in the cryptocurrency sector.
In a letter sent Thursday to OCC Chief Jonathan Gould, the senators expressed alarm over the Trump family’s crypto business ventures — including their ownership stakes in a stablecoin and decentralized finance (DeFi) platform — which they claim may pose serious risks to the integrity of U.S. financial oversight.
Central to their concern is USD1, a stablecoin launched in March 2024 by the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial. The token, which has grown to a market cap of $2.17 billion, now ranks as the seventh-largest stablecoin globally — ahead of offerings by PayPal and Ripple, according to CoinGecko data.
Their letter also flagged a controversial $2 billion deal in which Emirati firm MGX is set to invest in crypto exchange Binance using USD1. They called the arrangement “a staggering model for corruption,” highlighting that MGX is backed by a foreign government and Binance has pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.
Further raising eyebrows is the role Binance allegedly played in developing the code base for USD1, blurring lines between Trump’s financial interests and a company recently fined billions by U.S. authorities.
Complicating matters is the recent passage of the GENIUS Act — legislation that designates the OCC as the lead regulator for stablecoins. While the bill aims to bring regulatory clarity to the space, the senators argue it leaves the door wide open for Trump, his family, and affiliates to profit without checks or accountability.
The lawmakers posed a series of pointed questions to Gould, including whether he believes the president can remove him at will and whether he would be prepared to resign and report to Congress if subjected to undue political pressure.
They also demanded to know whether the OCC would investigate World Liberty Financial’s competitors and asked for a formal response by August 14.
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