Block, Inc. said on September 8 that it has asked the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for permission to open a national trust bank built around digital asset custody.
A charter for bitcoin custody
The proposed institution, Builders Bank & Trust, N.A., would be an uninsured national trust bank supervised by the OCC.
It would offer custody and related fiduciary services, including for bitcoin and stablecoins, but would not take deposits or make loans.
Block said the charter would place custody activities it already offers under a single federal supervisory framework, giving the business one consistent national rulebook as it grows.
The team behind Builders Bank
Lee Woolley, currently Digital Asset Strategy Lead at Block, would serve as president and chief executive of the new bank.
He has more than two decades in banking and financial services, including a stint as president and CEO of Treasury Department Federal Credit Union and senior roles at Northern Trust and BNY Mellon.
Woolley pointed to Block’s own track record with Square Financial Services in describing why the company thinks it can pull this off:
“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.”
He added that the charter is aimed squarely at safekeeping:
“We look forward to working with the OCC as we pursue a charter designed to support the secure custody of assets for Block and its customers.”
Approval still pending
The application now sits with the OCC for review, and Builders Bank would not open its doors until the required regulatory approvals come through.
Block, which trades on the NYSE under the ticker XYZ, already runs the Bitkey self-custody wallet and Proto, its bitcoin mining hardware and services arm, alongside Square, Cash App, Afterpay, and TIDAL.
