Block Seeks National Bank Charter to Custody Bitcoin

Block, the payments company behind Square and Cash App, has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter. The new bank, called Builders Bank & Trust, would be headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with no branches.

The OCC conditionally approved five crypto trust charters last December, including Circle and Ripple, but approval is not automatic. Block has run digital asset services under over 50 state licenses for about eight years, handling around $10.7 billion in Bitcoin transaction volume in 2022 and serving about two million monthly crypto users through Cash App.

The bank would custody Bitcoin and other digital assets, execute customer buy and sell orders on a riskless principal basis, and settle stablecoins. Block's digital asset strategy lead, Lee Woolley, would chair the bank and serve as CEO.