Summary
- On September 4, Block submitted an application to the OCC to establish Builders Bank & Trust, a national trust bank that is uninsured.
- The bank aims to provide custody services for Bitcoin and other digital assets, facilitating stablecoin settlements without accepting deposits or issuing loans.
- Last year, Block handled approximately $10.7 billion in Bitcoin transactions, operating under more than 50 state licenses.
Block, the payments technology company behind Square and Cash App, announced on Tuesday that it has applied for a national trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The proposed Builders Bank & Trust will operate without deposit-taking or lending services, focusing instead on the custody of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. It will execute buy and sell orders for customers on a riskless principal basis and handle stablecoin settlements.
For nearly eight years, Block has been providing digital asset services under over 50 state money transmitter and virtual currency licenses. According to the application, the company processed around $10.7 billion in Bitcoin transactions in 2025 and served roughly two million monthly crypto users via Cash App as of the second quarter. Block claims that obtaining a federal charter would allow it to expand these operations "through a consistent national framework as the business scales."
A Branchless Bank
Builders Bank will be located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and will not have any physical branches. The bank's five proposed directors reside outside of the state, prompting Block to request a waiver from the OCC for the requirement that at least one director live within 100 miles. Lee Woolley, who leads Block's digital asset strategy and has previous experience with Northern Trust and BNY Mellon, would be the chair and chief executive of the bank.
Notably, Jack Dorsey does not hold any role as an organizer, director, or senior executive in this venture; he is mentioned solely as Block's co-founder. The financial details and business plan submitted are confidential, and the bank's operations are contingent on OCC approval.
Although Dorsey has expressed skepticism towards stablecoins, preferring to focus on Bitcoin, the proposal includes stablecoin services.
In December, the OCC granted conditional approval for five crypto trust charters, including those for Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos, followed by three more approvals in February for Crypto.com and the Stripe subsidiary Bridge. Coinbase received preliminary approval in April, while applications from Morgan Stanley, Payoneer, Zerohash, Kraken's Payward, and the Trump-associated World Liberty Financial are still awaiting review by the OCC.
However, approval is not guaranteed. The OCC denied Wise National Trust's application in July. Earlier in April, the agency revised its chartering rules to encompass "operations of a trust company and activities related thereto," rather than just "fiduciary activities," which is a key point in Block's application. The OCC maintains that this change does not alter its regulatory authority.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has argued that the OCC lacks the authority to issue trust charters to entities that do not engage in traditional fiduciary roles, a perspective that is contested by industry stakeholders.