A proposed overhaul of U.S. custody rules covering crypto assets has entered White House regulatory review, moving another major Securities and Exchange Commission initiative closer to potential public release. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs received the SEC submission on August 25 under RIN 3235-AN46, titled “Amendments to the Custody Rules.” The proposal is classified as economically significant and remains under pending review at the proposed-rule stage.
The initiative would address custody requirements under both the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Investment Company Act of 1940. OIRA’s Unified Agenda says the SEC is considering changes intended to modernize rules governing advisory-client and fund assets, specifically including crypto assets. The regulatory objective is to clarify how investment advisers and investment companies can hold digital assets while complying with federal custody requirements.
Crypto Custody Framework Could Be Modernized
The OIRA record identifies uncertainty around compliant crypto custody as a reason for the rulemaking. Investment advisers and investment companies have raised questions about how digital assets fit within rules originally developed around more traditional methods of holding securities and funds. The SEC is considering both crypto-specific clarification and broader modernization of provisions it views as outdated.
What the new proposal will require operationally remains unknown. The SEC previously proposed a much broader Safeguarding Advisory Client Assets rule in 2023 that included written custodian agreements, segregation requirements and protections around liens and client assets. However, the Commission formally withdrew that proposal in June 2025 and said any future action would require a new proposal. The SEC’s withdrawal notice confirms that requirements from the abandoned framework should not automatically be treated as provisions of the rule now under OIRA review.
That distinction is particularly relevant for digital assets because custody structures can differ substantially from conventional securities accounts. Industry submissions to the SEC have debated qualified custodians, self-custody, multisignature arrangements and other safeguarding models. The new rule could determine how much flexibility regulated asset managers receive when holding crypto directly, but OIRA’s public record does not yet reveal which approach the Commission has chosen.
October Proposal Remains a Planning Target
The Unified Agenda currently lists October 2026 as the anticipated date for a notice of proposed rulemaking. That date is an agency planning target rather than a statutory deadline, and OIRA confirms that the rule has no legal deadline for completion.
OIRA review also does not mean the custody amendments have been adopted. The regulatory text remains nonpublic, and the SEC would still need to formally issue a proposed rule before opening the framework to public comment. Existing custody requirements therefore remain in force while the new framework works its way through executive and agency review.
For crypto custodians, registered advisers and fund managers, the development is nevertheless significant because the SEC has explicitly placed digital assets within the scope of the modernization effort. The real compliance implications will become clear only when the Commission publishes the proposed text and reveals how it intends to balance asset protection with the operational characteristics of crypto custody.
