Block Applies for US National Trust Bank Focused on Bitcoin, Stablecoin Custody

Jack Dorsey’s Block is pursuing a federal banking charter in the United States as it looks to bring Bitcoin and stablecoin custody operations into a nationally regulated trust institution.

Block announced the move Tuesday, saying the proposed institution will operate as Builders Bank & Trust, N.A. The company submitted its application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). If granted, the charter would place the proposed bank under OCC supervision.

Builders Bank is not intended to operate as a conventional lender or deposit-taking institution. The proposed bank would focus on trust functions involving digital assets and would neither accept customer deposits nor issue loans.

For Block, the proposed charter would place certain existing custody and related services under a unified federal regulatory framework. The structure is designed to accommodate growth in those activities without expanding Builders Bank into the type of business typically associated with conventional lenders.

Block has selected digital asset strategy lead Lee Woolley to serve as the proposed institution’s president and chief executive. Woolley said the venture would draw on expertise from Block’s digital-asset operations and Square Financial Services, along with the banking experience of the team being assembled for Builders Bank.

Crypto Firms Pursue National Trust Charters

Block is entering a regulatory path already being pursued by several other companies across the crypto and financial-technology sectors.

Ripple is partway through that process after regulators conditionally cleared its planned trust institution. Circle and BitGo have already passed the final approval stage. Kraken owner Payward and digital-asset infrastructure provider Zerohash are earlier in the process, with their applications still awaiting a decision.