Block Applies to National Trust Bank to Custody Bitcoin and Stablecoins

ChainCatcher report: Jack Dorsey’s payment company, Block, has applied to establish Builders Bank & Trust, N.A. If approved, the bank would become a federally chartered, non-depository national trust bank directly regulated by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), focused exclusively on Bitcoin and stablecoin custody and trust services, without accepting deposits or extending loans. The application is still pending OCC review. The OCC’s public list of pending digital asset charter applications currently includes 11 pending submissions (filed between February 23 and August 19), but Builders Bank is not among them. Previously, the OCC conditionally approved five national trust charter applications in December 2025, including Circle’s First National Digital Currency Bank, Ripple, and conversion applications from BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos; Circle received final approval in July this year. The Bank Policy Institute (BPI), representing major banks, previously opposed several limited-purpose national trust charter applications, arguing that companies should only receive trust charters if they intend to operate genuine trust companies, and warning against using such charters as a lightly regulated pathway to bank-like services. Block stated that Builders Bank will not begin operations until it obtains all required regulatory approvals.