OCC head rebuts Democratic pressure allegations, Congress engages in heated debate over WLFI bank license and stablecoin regulation

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on stablecoin regulation and the bank charter application of World Liberty Financial (WLFI). Acting Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould denied any "endorsement" from Trump, pointing out that the only political pressure his agency faces comes from Democratic lawmakers, not Trump. Democrats questioned the compliance of WLFI's bank charter application, citing its connections to foreign investors and alleged regulatory violations involving entities such as Binance.

Additionally, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Travis Hill stated that new rules requiring stablecoin issuers to establish customer identification programs will be proposed soon. Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman provided clarification regarding the approval of a master account for the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, emphasizing that the account has limited authority and an initial term of 12 months, during which close monitoring will occur to gather experience for formal rulemaking.