Block, the payments company founded by Jack Dorsey, has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Builders Bank \u0026 Trust, an uninsured national trust bank focused on digital assets.

According to the company, the proposed bank would provide custody and related fiduciary services for digital assets, including bitcoin and stablecoins, under OCC supervision. Builders Bank would not accept deposits or issue loans, meaning it would operate as a fiduciary rather than a traditional lender. Block said the proposed charter would provide a national framework for its custody operations as the business expands. Because the application is still pending, the proposed charter does not yet authorize Builders Bank to begin operating as a national trust bank.

Lee Woolley, Digital Asset Strategy Lead at Block, would serve as President and CEO of Builders Bank. The application remains subject to approval by the OCC, the federal agency that charters and supervises national banks.

National trust charters have emerged as a key regulatory pathway for digital asset firms in the United States. The OCC granted crypto custodian Anchorage Digital conditional approval for the first national trust bank charter awarded to a digital asset firm in January 2021, and a growing number of industry players have since pursued the same route. For firms focused on custody and fiduciary services, the pathway provides a defined federal supervisory framework without requiring the institution to operate as a deposit-taking bank or lender.

Block joins a broader group of cryptocurrency and financial technology companies seeking national trust bank charters. Ripple has received conditional approval for a similar charter, while Circle and BitGo have received final approval. Kraken parent Payward and crypto infrastructure provider Zero Hash have also submitted applications.

Block has long been one of bitcoin's most prominent corporate supporters: its Cash App platform offers bitcoin purchases, and the company holds bitcoin on its corporate balance sheet.

The filing also comes months after Block moved to embrace stablecoins. In early 2026, Dorsey — the founder and former CEO of Twitter (now X) and one of Silicon Valley's most outspoken Bitcoin maximalists — said his company would begin supporting stablecoins. Speaking in an interview with WIRED, Dorsey acknowledged that the shift reflects user demand rather than a change in philosophy. For years, he has argued that bitcoin should serve as the internet's native monetary protocol.

Source: BitcoinKE