Stablecoin sector has new developments. A well-known US dollar stablecoin USD1 recently encountered major news—its behind-the-scenes entity, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), officially submitted an application for a national bank charter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). What does this mean?

Once approved, WLFI will be able to independently issue and custody USD1 as a federal trust bank. Currently, USD1's dollar assets are held by a third-party institution, secured through a 100% cash and short-term US Treasury bonds model. Once the license is obtained, these assets can be transferred into WLFI's own regulated accounts, with the custodian becoming a strategic partner.

Even more exciting, WLFI plans to launch three major services—USD1 minting and redemption, dollar exchange, and stablecoin custody and conversion—all initially free of charge.

Looking at the current situation, it’s clear how ambitious this is: since USD1 was launched at the beginning of the year, its circulation has already exceeded $3.3 billion, covering 10 mainstream public chains including Ethereum and Solana. With the federal license as a trump card, WLFI aims to turn USD1 into the underlying infrastructure for global settlement.

From another perspective, this also reflects a broader trend in the stablecoin industry—the accelerated integration with traditional financial systems, with federal-level bank licenses becoming a key indicator in the next round of competition.