U.S. Crypto Rules Advance Across Trading, Clearing and Custody

U.S. regulators are advancing proposals, guidance and market measures across crypto fundraising, trading, clearing and custody, giving firms new paths to assess while several major rules remain subject to further steps.

The SEC’s Oct. 1 proposal would allow registered investment advisers and regulated funds to self-custody crypto in specified circumstances and permit state trust companies to serve as custodians, subject to conditions. Public comments are due 60 days after the proposal’s publication in the Federal Register.

The proposal is one of nine agency actions since Aug. 18, a tally spanning measures with different legal weight. The SEC’s Aug. 18 proposal would allow certain offerings of up to $5 million over four years and fundraising of up to $75 million in a 12-month period. Both remain proposed limits. A separate proposal issued Sept. 1 would update transfer-agent rules for electronic records, including blockchain-based recordkeeping.

Some measures have taken effect. On Sept. 17, the SEC adopted a temporary, conditional five-year exemption for certain venues trading tokenized U.S. stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools. The exemption concerns tokenized stocks, not Bitcoin (BTC) trading. That day, Commodity Futures Trading Commission staff issued conditional no-action relief for qualifying passive software providers serving users of registered futures firms and markets. On Sept. 28, the CFTC registered Coinbase Clearing LLC to clear fully collateralized futures, options on futures and swaps.