The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a new framework for how investment advisers and regulated funds may safeguard crypto assets, including a conditional pathway for holding them directly when no approved custodian is available.
The proposal comes as U.S. regulators continue developing digital-asset rules after lawmakers failed to advance the Clarity Act. According to Bitcoin Magazine, the SEC said the changes are intended to update custody requirements for a market that has expanded well beyond the early years of Bitcoin.
What the proposal would change
Under the proposed rules, investment advisers and funds operating through their advisers could hold clients’ crypto assets themselves, but only in circumstances where no permitted custodian is available. The measure is designed to create a compliant option for firms that cannot use an eligible third-party custodian.
The SEC also proposed allowing state trust companies to serve as custodians for crypto assets belonging to clients and regulated funds, subject to conditions. A custodian is a company or institution responsible for holding assets and maintaining controls around access, records and protection from misuse.
The regulator said blockchain-based records could count toward compliance requirements, also subject to conditions. That provision recognizes that distributed-ledger records can document ownership and transactions, while leaving the proposal’s requirements in place for how those records would be used.
A rulemaking push after the Clarity Act setback
The SEC’s action follows a procedural vote in which lawmakers blocked the Clarity Act last month. The proposed legislation was intended to establish a framework for determining whether different digital assets should be treated as securities, commodities or payment stablecoins, but it did not receive enough votes to move forward.
Regulators had indicated before that vote that they would continue working on crypto rules regardless of whether the legislation passed. The SEC had also sent a proposal to the White House before the vote that sought to clarify custody requirements for investment advisers and companies.
SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins said the crypto market had grown from a niche interest after Bitcoin’s 2008 launch into a multi-trillion-dollar asset class sought by investors. He argued that existing rules had not kept pace and described the proposal as a way to replace uncertainty with a clearer compliance route.
The proposal does not represent a final rule. Its provisions, including the conditions for self-custody, state trust companies and blockchain records, are part of the SEC’s proposed framework.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 09:44 on October 3, 2026, showed Bitcoin at $84,572.61, down 2.06% over 24 hours but up 0.69% over seven days. Other listed crypto assets showed mixed-to-positive moves:
- Aethir (ATH): $0.007022, up 12.28% in 24 hours and 7.91% over seven days, according to Moneyiar data at 09:43.
- WOULD: $0.035141, up 0.33% in 24 hours and 10.60% over seven days, according to Moneyiar data at 21:04 on September 22.
- FUNToken (FUN): $0.008353, up 1.49% in 24 hours and 5.21% over seven days, according to Moneyiar data at 09:43.
