The SEC's rewrite of custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies entered White House review on Aug. 25, reviving a crypto-focused framework after the agency withdrew a broader 2023 proposal in June 2025. The new agenda covers both adviser client assets and investment-company fund assets, but no rule text is public yet. The SEC targets October 2026 for a formal proposal.
A second attempt at crypto custody rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rewrite of custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies entered White House review on Aug. 25, placing a new crypto-focused framework under review after the agency withdrew a separate 2023 safeguarding proposal. The SEC's 2026 regulatory agenda says the rule would clarify how advisers and investment companies can custody crypto assets under Commission requirements.
Currently, the adviser rule generally requires a qualified custodian to hold client funds and securities in separate client accounts, or in accounts an adviser holds as agent or trustee. The new agenda would extend that framework to cover both investment adviser client assets and investment-company fund assets, and the SEC intends to remove burdens from provisions it considers outdated.
OIRA's review data lists the measure, RIN 3235-AN46, "Amendments to the Custody Rules," at the proposed-rule stage with an Aug. 25 date under the Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act.
Why the SEC shelved its first attempt
The SEC's earlier safeguarding proposal, issued in February 2023 under a different regulatory identifier, would have broadened the adviser rule beyond funds and securities to cover all client assets, including crypto, while keeping the qualified-custodian requirement. It also proposed protections to segregate client assets and shield them if a custodian became insolvent, alongside updated recordkeeping requirements.
The Commission formally withdrew that proposal in June 2025 and said any future action in the area would require a new proposed rule.
No text yet, and no deadline
The OIRA entry and SEC agenda provide no proposed rule text, so it remains unclear which entities would qualify to custody crypto, what controls would apply, or which existing provisions the SEC would remove. The agenda says advisers and investment companies have raised questions about holding crypto assets under current custody requirements.
A 2025 White House order requires agencies to keep following Executive Order 12866 review processes when submitting regulations to OIRA. Yet the current agenda targets October 2026 for a notice of proposed rulemaking, with no legal deadline attached.
Source: The Defiant
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