Digital AssetsSEC · October 6, 2026
The SEC proposes custody rules for crypto assets held by advisers and funds.
A compliant pathway for holding digital assets, including a narrow self-custody provision. Comments close on 7 December 2026.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new custody rules under the Investment Company Act and amendments to the custody rule under the Advisers Act to address how registered funds and investment advisers may hold crypto assets for their clients. The proposal also modernises the existing custody rules more broadly, redesignates the Advisers Act custody rule, and adds questions to Form ADV and Form N-CEN, including new questions about tokenised private funds and tokenised fund shares.
The most watched provisions concern self-custody. The proposal describes the conditions under which an adviser or a regulated fund may hold crypto assets itself, including criteria for determining when a qualified custodian is not available and the protective measures the adviser, or the fund's board, must put in place. The release was published in the Federal Register on 6 October. Comments are due by 7 December 2026.
The Calveris reading
Custody has been the quiet obstacle in institutional digital assets. Not price, not liquidity, but the mechanics of who holds the key and under what duty. A rule that names the conditions for holding a crypto asset, rather than leaving them to staff statements, is the precondition for the capital that has been waiting.
We read the self-custody provision narrowly, as the Commission appears to intend: an exception with conditions, not a licence. Our own practice is unchanged. The claim must be held before the conviction is acted upon.