Once the idea is cleared by the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, the agency can formally propose it and take comment from the industry and public. Meanwhile, Lindman cited the agency’s staff statement in December that was meant as an interim approach to steer broker-dealers on how they should handle crypto custody until the rules are in place, and he also referenced its move in September 2025 to allow investment advisers to park customer assets with state-chartered trusts as qualified crypto custodians.
The SEC’s previous effort to pursue a custody rule in 2023 was under a decidedly different regime, and then-SEC Chair Gary Gensler said that crypto firms themselves wouldn’t qualify to custody the assets. That rule, though, never moved to final form and was scrapped when President Donald Trump returned to the White House and appointed crypto-friendly leadership at the regulator.
Speaking more broadly of the agency’s…
