SEC targets October rulemaking to formalise crypto custody rules for advisers

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has submitted a draft regulatory proposal to the White House outlining plans for an October rulemaking that would clarify how registered investment advisers (RIAs) and investment companies must handle crypto-asset custody under existing Commission requirements. The submission, reported first by Bloomberg, was posted on the Office of Management and Budget’s regulatory agenda site and confirms that crypto custody is a central, though not exclusive, focus of the planned rule.

The backdrop is a patchwork of interim guidance issued since the start of the second Trump administration. A September 2025 no-action letter gave investment advisers a path to use state-chartered trusts as custodians, while a December 2025 staff statement extended a parallel route to broker-dealers seeking to self-custody crypto asset securities. Both measures were staff-level accommodations rather than binding rules, meaning they offer limited protection against litigation and could be withdrawn without a formal rulemaking process.

The planned rule aims to do two things simultaneously: establish a durable framework for crypto custody and remove provisions the SEC considers outdated given how securities markets and holding practices have evolved. For operators who built custody arrangements on the no-action letter or staff statement, the October proposal marks the point at which those interim structures will begin to be tested against a more permanent standard. The gap between current guidance and forthcoming rules is the key interval to manage.