Block applies for OCC trust bank charter for crypto custody — SkimNews
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- Block submitted an application Tuesday to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to create Builders Bank & Trust, an uninsured national trust bank offering custody and fiduciary services for Bitcoin and stablecoins
- The proposed Builders Bank would operate without accepting deposits or making loans, structurally separating it from a conventional commercial bank
- Lee Woolley, Block's digital asset strategy lead, is tapped as president and CEO of the proposed institution, with the company citing experience from its existing Square Financial Services industrial bank
- Block joins a growing pipeline: Ripple has conditional OCC approval, while Circle and BitGo have received final approval for similar charters; Kraken parent Payward and crypto infrastructure firm Zerohash have also filed applications
- Block says the charter would give its custody operations a consistent national regulatory framework as the business scales
Why it matters: Block is the latest in a cohort — alongside Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Kraken, and Zerohash — pursuing OCC trust charters specifically for crypto custody, suggesting crypto firms are deliberately choosing federally supervised, deposit-free vehicles over full-service banking structures as their regulatory pathway.
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