A new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission custody rulemaking has moved into White House regulatory review, with crypto assets explicitly within scope.
The proposal, titled Amendments to the Custody Rules, was received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on August 25, 2026.
The filing is important because the SEC's regulatory agenda says the rulemaking is intended to modernize custody requirements under both the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, including how investment advisers and investment companies hold crypto assets.
It is not yet a published SEC proposal and it is not in force.
The current status: OIRA review
The rule appears under RIN 3235-AN46.
The OIRA record lists it as:
- Stage: Proposed Rule;
- Status: Pending review;
- Priority: Economically significant;
- Received: August 25, 2026;
- Legal deadline: None.
The SEC's Unified Agenda anticipates a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking around October 2026, although regulatory-agenda dates are targets rather than guarantees.
The rule text has not yet been published.
That means the market knows the subject and regulatory objective, but not the detailed requirements.
What does the SEC say it wants to change?
The SEC's agenda says the Division of Investment Management is considering amendments to existing rules and/or new rules governing custody of advisory-client and fund assets.
Crypto assets are specifically mentioned.
The stated need is to clarify how investment advisers and investment companies can hold crypto assets while complying with federal custody requirements and to modernize outdated provisions whose burdens may no longer be justified by current market and securities-holding practices.
This framing suggests the rule could become one of the most important U.S. regulatory documents for institutional crypto custody.
This is not the 2023 proposal simply coming back
The history matters.
In February 2023, the SEC proposed the much-debated Safeguarding Advisory Client Assets rule. That proposal sought to expand and strengthen custody requirements for investment advisers and had major implications for crypto.
The SEC formally withdrew that proposal in June 2025 and said it did not intend to issue a final rule based on it.
If the Commission chose to act again, it said it would issue a new proposed rule.
The 2026 Amendments to the Custody Rules project is therefore a new rulemaking path.
Some of the policy questions may overlap with the 2023 debate, but the new rule should not be described as the old proposal becoming effective.
Why OIRA review matters
OIRA is part of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Its review is a pre-publication regulatory step for the proposed rule. OIRA can review the economic and policy implications and may engage with the agency before the proposal moves forward.
The August 25 submission therefore shows that the rulemaking has advanced beyond a simple agenda entry.
But it is still several stages away from becoming law.
A typical path would involve:
- completion of OIRA review;
- return to the SEC;
- Commission consideration and vote on whether to publish the proposal;
- public release of the proposed rule;
- a comment period;
- analysis of comments and possible revisions;
- a later Commission vote on any final rule;
- an effective date and possible compliance period.
Until the proposed text is released, no new custody obligation arises from the OIRA submission itself.
The biggest crypto questions to watch
The exact wording will determine whether the proposal is viewed as primarily clarifying, deregulatory or restrictive.
Several issues are likely to matter most.
What counts as a qualified custodian?
The 2023 debate focused heavily on whether crypto platforms could satisfy the conditions expected of qualified custodians.
A new approach could expand, clarify or redesign those requirements.
Can advisers hold crypto directly?
Digital assets create technical custody arrangements that do not map cleanly onto traditional securities custody.
The rule may need to address direct control of private keys, multisignature arrangements, third-party custodians and wallet infrastructure.
How will investment companies be treated?
The new agenda entry explicitly covers both investment advisers and investment companies.
That makes the scope broader than a discussion focused only on registered investment advisers.
How will tokenized securities and non-security crypto be handled?
The custody problem increasingly spans native crypto assets, tokenized securities, stablecoins and blockchain-based fund instruments.
The final definitions will determine whether one framework can sensibly cover those different asset types.
What happens to existing crypto custodians?
Banks, broker-dealers, state-chartered trust companies and specialist crypto custodians may all be affected depending on how the SEC defines acceptable custody arrangements and control standards.
Why the "deregulatory" label should not be overread
The Unified Agenda marks the rulemaking as deregulatory under the current executive-order framework.
That is a useful signal about the administration's intended direction, but it does not reveal the operative text.
A rule can reduce burdens in some areas while adding specific controls or disclosure requirements in others.
The market should therefore wait for the actual proposal before assuming that all crypto custody requirements will become easier.
What this could mean for crypto institutions
The rule could materially affect:
- registered investment advisers;
- mutual funds and other registered investment companies;
- institutional crypto custodians;
- banks and trust companies;
- broker-dealers;
- fund administrators;
- crypto ETF and tokenized-asset infrastructure.
Clearer custody rules could reduce legal uncertainty for institutions that want crypto exposure.
Conversely, definitions that exclude common crypto custody models could concentrate business among a smaller set of regulated custodians.
The difference will be in the details.
CEXVia assessment
Regulatory significance: High Immediate operational risk: Medium
The August 25 OIRA submission is an important regulatory milestone, but it does not create a new enforceable custody regime today.
The correct status is proposed rule under White House review.
The next major event will be publication of the actual SEC proposal, currently targeted in the regulatory agenda for around October 2026.
At that point, the key task will be to compare the new text with the withdrawn 2023 safeguarding proposal and identify how the treatment of crypto custody has changed.
FAQ
Has the SEC adopted a new crypto custody rule?
No. The 2026 Amendments to the Custody Rules is still at the proposed-rule stage and entered OIRA review on August 25.
What is RIN 3235-AN46?
It is the regulatory identification number for the SEC's 2026 Amendments to the Custody Rules project.
Does the proposal cover crypto?
Yes. The SEC's regulatory agenda explicitly says the rulemaking is intended to address custody of crypto assets for investment advisers and investment companies.
Is this the same as the SEC's 2023 safeguarding proposal?
No. The SEC withdrew the 2023 Safeguarding Advisory Client Assets proposal in 2025. The 2026 custody project is a new rulemaking.
When will the proposal be published?
The SEC's agenda anticipates a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking around October 2026, but that date is not legally binding.
*This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice.*