Block Bank Charter: Builders Bank to Custody Bitcoin, Stablecoins

Short answer: On September 9, 2026, the crypto industry digested news that Block, the Jack Dorsey-led parent of Square and Cash App, has applied for a Block bank charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The proposed Builders Bank & Trust would be an uninsured national trust bank offering custody and fiduciary services for bitcoin and stablecoins, without taking deposits or making loans.

What happened

Block announced the application late on September 8, after U.S. markets closed, and crypto and banking media covered it through September 9. The entity would be called Builders Bank & Trust, N.A. According to the company, it would provide custody and related fiduciary services, including for bitcoin and stablecoins, and would be an uninsured national trust bank that does not accept deposits or make loans.

• Applicant: Block, Inc., the payments company behind Square, Cash App and the Bitkey self-custody wallet.
• Regulator: the OCC, which charters and supervises national banks in the United States.
• Scope: custody and fiduciary services for bitcoin and stablecoins; no deposits, no lending.
• Leadership: Lee Woolley, Block's digital asset strategy lead, who previously held senior roles at the Treasury Department Federal Credit Union, Northern Trust and BNY Mellon.

The application is a request, not an approval. The OCC typically grants a conditional approval first, and a new trust bank must then meet capital, compliance and operational conditions before it can open.

What a national trust bank charter allows

A national trust bank is a limited-purpose bank supervised by the OCC that focuses on fiduciary work — holding and administering assets for clients — rather than taking deposits and lending. For a crypto custodian the attraction is a single federal license that works across all 50 states, instead of a patchwork of state trust charters and money-transmitter licenses, plus the credibility of federal bank supervision when dealing with institutional clients.

Block already owns a bank: Square Financial Services, a Utah industrial bank that received its charter in 2020 and began operating in 2021. The new entity serves a different purpose.

Why crypto companies are rushing to become banks

Block is joining a crowded queue. According to PYMNTS, the OCC received 40 new bank applications in about 18 months, compared with 48 over the whole 2011–2024 period, and Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould has described the surge in de novo charters as a sign of a healthy banking system. Payments Dive notes that the OCC has recently granted a final approval to Circle and conditional approvals to Revolut and to Bridge, Stripe's stablecoin subsidiary, and that a May 2026 executive order directed agencies to streamline charter applications.

Three forces drive the trend:

1. Stablecoin rules. Federal stablecoin legislation and the regulations following it favour issuers and custodians with bank-grade supervision.
2. Institutional demand. Pension funds, asset managers and corporate treasuries often require a qualified, regulated custodian before they can hold digital assets.
3. Direct access. A charter can bring firms closer to payment rails and reduce dependence on partner banks that may exit crypto relationships under pressure.

For Block specifically, a trust bank would let it hold bitcoin and stablecoins for merchants and businesses under its own regulated roof, complementing Cash App's retail bitcoin buying and the Bitkey self-custody wallet.

What it means for you

Nothing changes immediately for Cash App or Square users: the bank does not exist yet, and approval could take months. The broader shift is worth understanding, though.

• Custody is a choice. A regulated custodian reduces some risks — fraud, commingling, sloppy record-keeping — but you are still trusting a third party. Self-custody removes that dependency and adds responsibility for your keys; our wallet security guide covers the basics.
• "Uninsured" is not a formality. A trust bank that takes no deposits offers no FDIC deposit insurance. Custodied assets are generally meant to be held separately for clients, but read the terms of any custody product rather than assuming bank-style protection.
• Stablecoins are moving inside the banking perimeter. That tends to mean stricter checks on who can hold and redeem them. If you use stablecoins for everyday transfers, understanding how stablecoins work helps you pick the right issuer and network.

Key takeaways

• Block has applied to the OCC to form Builders Bank & Trust, N.A., a national trust bank for bitcoin and stablecoin custody.
• The bank would be uninsured and would not take deposits or make loans.
• Lee Woolley, Block's digital asset strategy lead, would run it; Block already owns the Utah-chartered Square Financial Services.
• The OCC has received 40 new bank applications in about 18 months, with Circle, Revolut and Bridge among recent approvals.

If you prefer to keep coins in your own wallet and only need a quick conversion, an instant exchanger compared with a centralized exchange explains which model leaves custody with you.

Sources: PYMNTS, Payments Dive, KuCoin