SEC crypto custody rewrite enters White House review

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s draft rewrite of custody rules for crypto assets entered Executive Branch review on Aug. 25, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs recorded. The filing appears under the title “Amendments to the Custody Rules” and is listed at the proposed-rule stage.

OIRA’s receipt begins a pre-publication review of the draft. The filing does not set a legal deadline. The SEC’s Unified Agenda lists October 2026 as a target for a notice of proposed rulemaking, but that date is an agency planning goal rather than a fixed timetable. Publication for public comment and formal Commission consideration remain required steps before any final rule.

The rulemaking covers registered investment advisers, investment companies, and the banks and state trust companies that custody their crypto assets. Public records at OIRA do not include the operative text of the proposal, so specific eligibility criteria, control requirements and safeguard standards under consideration are not yet public.

The current regulatory baseline reflects two prior developments. In June 2025 the SEC withdrew its 2023 safeguarding proposal and said a new proposal would be required for future action. On Sept. 30, 2025, SEC investment-management staff issued a no-action position that has guided market practice. That staff position said the staff would not recommend enforcement against advisers or funds that treated certain state trust companies as banks for crypto custody when a set of conditions were met.

The staff conditions include state authorization to provide custody services, written safeguarding policies, audited financial statements, independent control reports, formal custody agreements that segregate client or fund assets, clear disclosures of custody risks, and adviser determinations that the custodian choice serves clients’ or shareholders’ best interests. Custody agreements must bar lending, pledging or rehypothecation of assets without prior written consent.

If the SEC publishes a proposed rule after OIRA review, the rulemaking would create a public record for comment and for shaping which institutions may provide custody and what safeguards they must meet. Until publication, advisers, funds and custodians continue to operate under the current staff guidance and await formal notice and Commission action.