Block Applies to OCC for National Trust Bank Charter to Custody Bitcoin and Stablecoins

Block, Inc. said Tuesday it has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter to custody bitcoin and stablecoins.

The filing seeks a charter for Builders Bank & Trust, N.A., an uninsured national trust bank that Lee Woolley would lead as president and chief executive. “Building on Block’s experience in the digital asset space, our history with Square Financial Services, and the deep banking expertise of the team we’ve assembled, we believe Builders Bank is well positioned to support Block’s broader vision of economic empowerment,” Woolley said in a statement.

If approved, the bank would provide custody and other fiduciary services, including for bitcoin and stablecoins. A national trust charter grants fiduciary powers such as asset custody without accepting insured deposits, and the structure suits custody businesses that hold client assets to fiduciary standards rather than pursuing conventional retail banking.

For Block, the charter would extend a payments and financial-services business into regulated digital-asset custody. The statement pointed to the company’s history with Square Financial Services, its Utah-chartered industrial bank, as evidence of banking experience, and to a banking team assembled for the new institution.

Block joins a queue of crypto and fintech firms pursuing federal charters, according to the report. Coinbase, Paxos, BitGo, Ripple and Circle have sought or secured conditional federal approvals, and Revolut most recently received its own conditional approval the week before Block’s filing, as the regulator has taken a friendlier stance toward the industry.

Charter activity has accelerated. Since 2025, the OCC has received 40 de novo charter applications, approving 21 and denying two, per figures first reported alongside Block’s filing. De novo charters cover newly formed banks, as distinct from conversions of existing institutions, and the tally points to a broad shift in federal posture toward crypto banking rather than a run of isolated requests.

The report also notes that the OCC recently granted conditional approval to World Liberty Financial, the venture backed by President Donald Trump’s family, amid scrutiny in Washington over potential conflicts of interest.

The OCC’s decision on the application is pending. A charter would give Block federally supervised custody capabilities; a denial would leave its custody plans, for now, unrealized.