Not your keys, not your coins. An American wealth manager who wanted to place bitcoin directly in his clients' wallets had until now two options. Buy an ETF, or pay a law firm to dissect rules written long before the Internet. On October 1, 2026, the SEC put a third path on the table with draft rules for the custody of crypto-assets designed for registered investment advisors and regulated funds.
The stock market watchdog is no longer waiting for Congress, which is still bogged down since the CLARITY Act was blocked in the Senate. A 60-day public consultation will open as soon as the text is published in the Federal Register.
Crypto custody: what the SEC puts on the table
The text targets two families of actors. On the one hand, registered investment advisors (RIAs, these managers who advise individuals or institutions for remuneration). On the other, regulated funds, that is to say American mutual funds and business development companies (BDC).
According to the SEC press release, the proposal authorizes state trust companies to guard cryptos of clients and funds, opens self-custody in certain cases, updates custody via broker-dealers and modernizes the financial audits required of advisors.
“the crypto-asset market has grown from a niche curiosity to a multi-trillion dollar asset class”
In this context, Paul Atkins, president of the SEC, set the scene bluntly:
“Since the arrival of Bitcoin in 2008, the cryptoasset market has grown from a niche curiosity to a multi-trillion dollar asset class. »
Official press release from the SEC
The document estimates the global capitalization of cryptos at $2.7 trillion in May 2026.
The heart of the subject lies in a notion. The qualified custodian refers to the establishment that the law recognizes to hold the assets of an advisor's clients. Until now, a state trust company specializing in cryptos has operated in a gray area. The project includes it in black and white, provided that the advisor verifies his approval, reviews his audited accounts each year and ensures that client assets remain separate from those of the company.
Self-custody: the SEC authorizes it, with a safeguard on each floor
This is the novelty that will get people talking. The SEC would accept that an advisor keeps his clients' cryptos himself, without going through a third party. On paper, the turn is clear, even if the door remains narrow.
The advisor should first note in writing, before taking custody and then every quarter, that no qualified custodian is available for the asset in question. As Atkins acknowledged, custodian capacities can lag “several months” behind the launch of a token. Then come the technical obligations: a joint authorization of at least two people for any transaction, separate addresses for each client, an annual cybersecurity review, an internal control report signed by an independent accountant within six months and then every year, and a quarterly statement sent to the client.
Be careful of the misinterpretation. Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the SEC, clarified that this self-custody concerns the advisor who keeps the assets of his clients, not the individual who holds his own keys. She took the opportunity to drive the point home, reports The Block: according to her, regulators must “zealously protect investors’ right to self-preservation” instead of forcing them to entrust their assets to someone else.
Guarding cryptos without Congress: the SEC moves forward alone
The contrast with the Gensler era is obvious. In 2023, the agency proposed a “safeguarding” rule that the industry deemed designed to keep cryptos away from recommended portfolios. The Commission withdrew it on June 12, 2025. On September 30, 2025, its services published a letter of no action confirming that state trust companies could, under conditions, serve as qualified depositaries.
This project sets this tolerance in stone. It adds to the “Regulation Crypto Assets” proposal from August 2026 and the interpretation on crypto securities from March. Meanwhile, the Senate stumbled over the CLARITY Act, which received only 49 votes on September 15, far from the 60 needed to begin debate. The SEC is therefore doing through regulations what the law has not yet done.
The counter-position deserves to be posed. A proposed rule can still change its face. Between comments from the sector, adjustments to the final version and a possible future less conciliatory Commission, the text may move. The final definition of qualified custodian will decide whether bitcoin specialists play on equal terms with the big custodian banks.
