An investment group led by Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan reportedly holds the largest equity stake in the holding company behind World Liberty Financial’s planned US trust bank.
It is reported that Sheikh Tahnoon’s group is behind StringZ Holding RSC, which owns a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings. An entity affiliated with US President Donald Trump’s family holds another 38% stake in the entity. WLTC Holdings acts as the parent vehicle for World Liberty Trust Company, which received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on August 14, 2026.
Strategic Scope and Stablecoin Operations
If granted final regulatory authorization, the federally chartered trust bank will bring the issuance, reserve management, and custody of World Liberty’s dollar-backed stablecoin, USD1, under direct federal supervision. Currently issued in partnership with digital asset infrastructure firm BitGo, the USD1 stablecoin has grown to roughly $4 billion in market capitalization.
The trust charter will allow the entity to execute institutional issuance and redemption of USD1, manage reserve assets directly, and offer non-bank institutional crypto custody services.
Cross-Border Ties and Governance Commitments
Sheikh Tahnoon serves as the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser and chairs G42, an Abu Dhabi-backed artificial intelligence firm. His involvement follows previous state-level AI cooperation frameworks between the US and the UAE, which facilitated authorized exports of advanced American semiconductor chips to G42.
The OCC’s public disclosure confirmed that StringZ Holding is an investor in WLTC Holdings and noted that major shareholders signed passivity commitments agreeing not to exercise improper management control over the trust bank. However, the OCC document did not explicitly identify Sheikh Tahnoon by name or detail exact equity breakdowns.
The transaction follows a prior $500 million acquisition of a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial by a Tahnoon-backed vehicle, a deal that previously drew scrutiny and calls for congressional hearings from US Democratic lawmakers regarding potential foreign policy implications.
World Liberty Trust Company cannot commence operations until it fulfills all pre-opening capital, compliance, and governance conditions set by the OCC to earn final charter approval.
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