Summary
The US Securities and Exchange Commission on October 1, 2026 proposed a new crypto asset custody framework amending custody rules under the Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act to address compliance gaps for registered investment advisers and regulated funds handling crypto assets. Th…
Key points
- Institutional custody is the bottleneck for crypto entering mainstream portfolios; this proposal directly determines whether and how advisers and funds can legally hold crypto assets.
- This is the first time a US regulator has given advisers and funds a clear crypto custody compliance path, affecting the pace of overall institutional inflows.
- Custody providers, trust companies and crypto-native custodians may see new compliant business opportunities, while funds and advisers must adjust compliance costs and process design.
- The proposal extends the SEC's earlier crypto actions, including no-action letters, tokenization guidance and securities determinations, and follows the revival of a 2023 custody proposal withdrawn in 2025.
Editorial note
This page is Code & Chain's editorial summary of public sources. It may be prepared with AI assistance and published through an automated workflow. Refer to the original sources; this content is not investment, legal, or tax advice.