Block applies for OCC trust bank for bitcoin custody

Block, through Davis Polk, filed an OCC charter application for Builders Bank & Trust, N.A.. The transmittal letter is dated 4 September 2026. The proposed de novo national trust bank would be sponsored by Block, Inc., with a main office planned for Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

This is an OCC national trust bank charter application plus Block's company announcement. It is not an approval, not FDIC insurance, and not Federal Reserve master-account access.

The BusinessWire release frames Builders Bank as an uninsured national trust bank that would not accept deposits or make loans. The application lists proposed activities: custody and safekeeping of bitcoin and other digital assets, consolidating Block's existing bitcoin custody under a federally chartered trust bank; riskless-principal execution of customer buy and sell orders; execution of customer deposit, withdraw, and transfer instructions; and stablecoin settlement and transfer services.

The application states Block facilitated approximately $10.7 billion in annual Bitcoin transaction volume in fiscal year 2025. As of the second quarter of 2026, it says Cash App serves approximately two million digital-asset monthly transacting actives.

Lee Woolley, Block's digital asset strategy lead and formerly CEO of Treasury Department Federal Credit Union, is proposed as president and CEO. He previously held senior roles at Northern Trust and BNY Mellon. Approval is not guaranteed. Product detail beyond the listed activities is limited in the public volume.

Custody and stablecoin rails already in view include Visa's $20 billion stablecoin settlement run-rate, Treasury's GENIUS Act stablecoin rules, and SEC custody rules under OIRA review. The same week's federal paper trail also includes Treasury's OFAC Outcast airline designations.

If you custody bitcoin or stablecoins with Block or Cash App, or compete in crypto trust banking, treat the binding step as an OCC application for Builders Bank & Trust dated 4 September 2026, not as an approved federal bank, and watch the OCC docket rather than assuming custody already moved under a national charter.