SEC Crypto Task Force Chief Outlines Incoming Custody Rule for Broker-Dealers and Advisers

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a formal custody proposal covering both broker-dealers and investment advisers, with the draft currently under White House review by the Office of Management and Budget. Taylor Lindman, chief counsel of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, outlined the effort at a CoinDesk Policy and Regulation event in Washington, describing it as an attempt to let broker-dealers carry non-security crypto assets without requiring special registration and to clarify where investment advisers may hold client assets, including at state-chartered trust companies.

Lindman framed the broader agenda as deliberate foundation-laying rather than headline-grabbing reform, noting that the agency is working to bring existing securities intermediaries into a world where blockchain and crypto assets, whether securities or not, fit within established regulatory frameworks. Once OMB clears the custody proposal, the SEC can formally publish it and open a public comment period. In the interim, a December staff statement has been guiding broker-dealers on custody handling, and a September 2025 move already allowed investment advisers to treat state-chartered trusts as qualified crypto custodians.

A prior custody effort launched in 2023 under then-Chair Gary Gensler never reached final form; it was withdrawn after President Donald Trump returned to office and installed crypto-friendly leadership at the agency. The current proposal sits alongside other recent SEC actions, including a proposed rule permitting crypto offerings and a new exemption clearing the way for tokenised securities, all of which Lindman characterised as steps toward a durable, generational framework rather than reactive policy.