Block announced after market close on Tuesday that it has submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank called Builders Bank and Trust. The charter would be separate from the company's existing banking relationships. Pending regulatory approval, Builders Bank and Trust would provide "institutional-grade fiduciary custody and safekeeping of certain digital assets" such as bitcoin and stablecoins, according to a copy of the filing.
The application is subject to review and approval by the OCC, which has publicly advertised that it aims to turn around charter applications. The filing has not yet been posted for public comment by the OCC, and the agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lee Woolley, currently Block's digital asset strategy lead, would serve as president and CEO of Builders Bank. Woolley previously served as president and CEO of Treasury Department Federal Credit Union and has held senior banking leadership roles at Northern Trust and BNY Mellon.
Keybanc Capital Markets analysts said Block already self-custodies bitcoin in most cases, so the charter is likely primarily about federal preemption supporting better scale at the federal regulatory level versus a state-level patchwork. The analysts noted that within the recent wave of digital asset trust applicants, Block stands out as a mass-consumer app with added distribution via its Square merchant base, and that the charter adds optionality across stablecoin settlement and other digital asset activities.
The filing did not state that Builders Bank plans to file for a separate stablecoin issuing subsidiary, and the company did not indicate that tokenized deposits are part of its proposed business plan. KBCM analysts framed this as longer-dated optionality: Block has not signaled tokenization plans, and its stated digital asset focus remains bitcoin, with stablecoins adopted more reluctantly on customer demand. What remains unknown is whether the OCC will approve the application and how quickly, given that the application has not yet been posted for public comment.