SEC plans rulemaking for crypto custody by registered investment advisers

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is planning an October proposed rulemaking for registered investment advisers (RIAs), according to a draft proposal sent to the White House yesterday, as first reported by Bloomberg. While the rulemaking is not just about crypto-asset custody, this is a key part of its plans.

The SEC’s rulemaking entry published on the Office of Management and Budget regulatory site states: “Currently, investment advisers and investment companies have raised questions about how to hold crypto assets in compliance with the current Commission custody requirements. This rulemaking would clarify the framework for the custody of crypto assets for investment adviser and investment companies, as well as make other modernizations needed to remove burdens from certain outdated provisions that are no longer needed to provide investor protection given the evolution in the markets and security trading and holding practices.”

Since the start of the second Trump administration, the SEC has opened up crypto custody for both investment advisers and broker dealers. For investment advisers this came in a September 2025 no action letter blessing state chartered trusts as custodians. Broker dealers got a parallel path in a December 2025 staff statement, which clarified how they can custody crypto asset securities themselves. The challenge is that neither of these paths is durable and while they may provide some transient protection from the regulator, litigation risks will still persist.

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