SEC Sends Crypto Custody Rule Overhaul to White House for Review

What Happened

The SEC sent a proposed rule titled "Amendments to the Custody Rules" to the White House Office of Management and Budget on August 25, 2026, according to CoinDesk. The proposal aims to clarify how investment advisers and investment companies must custody crypto assets held for clients. It reached the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a required review checkpoint before the SEC can formally vote to publish the proposal and open it for public comment.

What the Rule Targets

The proposal is aimed specifically at investment advisers and investment companies holding digital assets on behalf of clients, per Bloomberg. How the agency ultimately defines a "qualified custodian" under the rule will shape standards across the broader custody industry, since that definition determines which providers investment advisers can legally use.

Where Things Stand

The full text of the proposal has not been released publicly. The filing is listed as economically significant and tagged as deregulatory under Executive Order 14192. The SEC's own Unified Agenda targets a formal notice of proposed rulemaking for October 2026, meaning the current OMB review is a preliminary step rather than a final rule.

Why This Matters

This is a rule specifically for investment advisers and funds, not a direct rule for individual exchange users like Bitval's, but it matters for the broader industry because custody standards set for institutional money managers tend to influence norms across the market. The SEC has attempted a version of this rule before without finalizing it, so the current review at OMB is a meaningful step forward, though still several stages away from taking effect.

If you want to see how Bitval documents its own custody approach, you can explore Bitval directly.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice.