Block, the company behind Square and Cash App, has applied for a national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The proposed entity, Builders Bank & Trust, Builders Bank & Trust would be an uninsured, non-depository institution. It would not take deposits or provide loans, focusing instead on the custody of Bitcoin and other digital assets, stablecoin settlement, and executing customer buy and sell orders on a riskless principal basis.
Block has operated digital asset services for approximately eight years, utilizing over 50 state licenses. In 2025, the company handled approximately $10.7 billion in Bitcoin transaction volume. By the second quarter, Cash App served about two million monthly crypto users. Block states that a federal charter would provide a consistent national framework as the business scales.
Builders Bank would be headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with no physical branches. Lee Woolley, a former executive at BNY Mellon and Northern Trust, would serve as CEO and chair. Jack Dorsey, Block's co-founder, is not listed as an organizer, director, or senior executive of the bank. The bank's business plan and capital figures remain confidential exhibits in the filing.
The OCC has conditionally approved several crypto trust charters, including those for Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, and Stripe's subsidiary Bridge. Other applications from firms like Coinbase, Morgan Stanley, and Kraken's Payward are either pending or have received preliminary approval. However, the OCC has denied some applications, such as Wise National Trust in July.
