SEC Plans New Crypto Custody Rules for Broker-Dealers

SEC Crypto Task Force Chief Counsel Taylor Lindman sketched a two-track custody plan on Tuesday: one piece would let broker-dealers carry non-security crypto assets without a special registration, the other would clarify for investment advisers where they can park client assets, including at a state-chartered trust. The proposal covers both investment firms and broker-dealers and now sits under White House review.

Lindman spoke at the CoinDesk Policy & Regulation event in Washington, D.C. The next gate is the Office of Management and Budget, which must clear the rule before the SEC can formally propose it and open a public comment window. No timeline was given.

What the rule would do

For broker-dealers, the proposal is meant to let the market "understand how you can carry a non-security crypto asset within a broker-dealer without needing some special registration," Lindman said. For investment advisers, the plan would spell out acceptable client-asset locations, state-chartered trusts included.

Lindman framed the work as the customary steps of taking what was once a "really unique and scary asset" and saying "this is how we think about stablecoins, or this is how we think about non-security crypto assets," and fitting them into a framework built on for "every generation to come" to "meet the market where it's at."

The interim steps already in place

Two existing measures cover the gap until the rule lands. In September 2025, the SEC let investment advisers park customer assets with state-chartered trusts acting as qualified crypto custodians. In December, staff issued a statement steering broker-dealers on how to handle crypto custody pending final rules.

Lindman called the December staff statement the interim approach for broker-dealers, and pointed to the September 2025 adviser trust move as the parallel step on the investment side.

The 2023 attempt and the reset

The SEC's previous custody push in 2023, under then-Chair Gary Gensler, took the position that crypto firms themselves would not qualify to custody the assets. That rule never moved to final form and was scrapped after President Donald Trump returned to the White House and installed new crypto-friendly leadership at the regulator.

Lindman framed the current agenda, including the custody plan, a proposed rule on crypto offerings and a new tokenization exemption, as foundation laying. "Some of the foundation laying is boring," he said.

What to watch next

The OMB review is the gate. Once cleared, the SEC can formally propose the rule and open a public comment window. Until then, broker-dealers operate under the December staff statement, and advisers rely on the September 2025 trust guidance.

Holders and platforms should watch the Federal Register for the proposing release, and any expansion of the December broker-dealer staff statement or the September 2025 adviser trust guidance as the formal proposal moves.