US Regulators and Wall Street Deepen Crypto Ties as Block Seeks Bank Charter and XRP ETFs Draw Institutional Money

Traditional finance and the crypto industry moved closer together this week, as payments giant Block pursued a federal trust bank charter while major US brokerages disclosed growing exposure to XRP exchange-traded funds.

Block Applies for a National Trust Bank Charter

Jack Dorsey's Block has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter, aiming to bring its Bitcoin and stablecoin custody operations under direct federal oversight. The proposed institution, named Builders Bank & Trust, N.A., would not accept deposits or issue loans like a conventional bank. Instead, it is designed purely as a trust entity focused on digital asset custody and related services.

Block has tapped Lee Woolley, the company's digital asset strategy lead, to serve as the new institution's president and CEO. Woolley is expected to draw on experience from Block's existing digital-asset business and its subsidiary Square Financial Services.

The move places Block alongside a growing list of crypto and fintech firms pursuing the same regulatory path. Ripple has already received conditional OCC approval for its own national trust charter, while Circle and BitGo have cleared the final approval stage. Kraken parent company Payward and infrastructure provider Zerohash both have applications pending.

The trend reflects a broader push among crypto-native firms to operate under the same federal banking framework as traditional financial institutions, rather than relying solely on state-level licensing — a shift that could streamline custody operations and reduce regulatory fragmentation across the sector.

Charles Schwab and Major Institutions Increase XRP ETF Holdings

Separately, a fresh SEC filing confirmed that Charles Schwab's fund family now holds more than $1 million in Grayscale's spot XRP ETF, held as collateral. The disclosure adds to mounting evidence that XRP-linked investment products are steadily working their way into mainstream portfolio strategies.

In a related filing, Cyber Hornet's S&P 500 & XRP 75/25 Strategy ETF listed XRP as its single largest holding at 22.5% of the fund — ahead of both Nvidia (6.1%) and Apple (5.2%) — giving investors blended exposure to the token alongside broad US equity markets.

The disclosures come as cumulative inflows into US spot XRP ETFs approach $1.8 billion since launch, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, who has described the flows as "surprisingly resilient" despite XRP's price volatility. Inflows have climbed from roughly $150 million last November to nearly $1.79 billion by late August.

Other major institutional holders identified in recent filings include Goldman Sachs (approximately $87.45 million), Jane Street (around $16.64 million), and Millennium Management (about $16.20 million), alongside firms such as Marex UK Holdings, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Citadel Advisors. Monthly inflows also accelerated sharply, rising from $27.29 million in July to $159.18 million in August — a jump of more than 460%.

What It Means

Together, these developments point to a clear pattern: US-regulated financial infrastructure is increasingly accommodating both crypto custody and crypto-linked investment products. Block's charter application signals that even non-native crypto firms now see federal banking status as essential for scaling digital asset services, while the swelling roster of institutional XRP ETF holders shows that regulated wrappers are becoming a standard route for traditional finance to gain crypto exposure.