#bank & #Trust
🚀 Block applies for banking license for Bitcoin custody
$BTC $ETH $SOL
Jack Dorsey’s Block (developer of Cash App and Square) has officially submitted an application to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national charter to create Builders Bank & Trust.
The new structure is planned as a national trust bank without accepting deposits and issuing loans.
🔑 Key details of the application:
➡️ Specialization: Safekeeping (custody) of Bitcoin and other digital assets, execution of customer orders for buy/sell on a risk-free basis, as well as settlements in stablecoins.
➡️ Structure: Headquarters in Sioux Falls (South Dakota) without physical branches. Lee Woolley (former top manager of Northern Trust and BNY Mellon) is proposed as Chairman and CEO.
➡️ Scale: The application builds on Block’s experience, which in 2025 secured $10.7 billion in BTC transaction volume through over 50 state licenses, serving about 2 million monthly crypto users on Cash App.
➡️ Unified federal framework: Obtaining a federal license will allow Block to move beyond state-level regulation and unify operations.
⚠️ Context and risks:
➡️ Conflicting views: The inclusion of stablecoin settlements looks interesting given that Jack Dorsey himself is skeptical of stablecoins, preferring to develop infrastructure directly on Bitcoin.
➡️ Regulatory trends: The OCC has recently conditionally approved a number of similar charters for Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, Crypto.com, Bridge (Stripe), and Coinbase.
➡️ Bureaucratic barriers: Approval is not guaranteed (for example, Wise's application was rejected), and Senator Elizabeth Warren continues to insist that the OCC does not have the authority to issue trust licenses to companies without classic fiduciary activities.
🚀 Block applies for banking license for Bitcoin custody
$BTC $ETH $SOL
Jack Dorsey’s Block (developer of Cash App and Square) has officially submitted an application to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national charter to create Builders Bank & Trust.
The new structure is planned as a national trust bank without accepting deposits and issuing loans.
🔑 Key details of the application:
➡️ Specialization: Safekeeping (custody) of Bitcoin and other digital assets, execution of customer orders for buy/sell on a risk-free basis, as well as settlements in stablecoins.
➡️ Structure: Headquarters in Sioux Falls (South Dakota) without physical branches. Lee Woolley (former top manager of Northern Trust and BNY Mellon) is proposed as Chairman and CEO.
➡️ Scale: The application builds on Block’s experience, which in 2025 secured $10.7 billion in BTC transaction volume through over 50 state licenses, serving about 2 million monthly crypto users on Cash App.
➡️ Unified federal framework: Obtaining a federal license will allow Block to move beyond state-level regulation and unify operations.
⚠️ Context and risks:
➡️ Conflicting views: The inclusion of stablecoin settlements looks interesting given that Jack Dorsey himself is skeptical of stablecoins, preferring to develop infrastructure directly on Bitcoin.
➡️ Regulatory trends: The OCC has recently conditionally approved a number of similar charters for Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, Crypto.com, Bridge (Stripe), and Coinbase.
➡️ Bureaucratic barriers: Approval is not guaranteed (for example, Wise's application was rejected), and Senator Elizabeth Warren continues to insist that the OCC does not have the authority to issue trust licenses to companies without classic fiduciary activities.
