The Securities and Exchange Commission sent a proposed rewrite of its custody rules to the White House on 25 August 2026. The filing appears on the federal regulatory docket as RIN 3235-AN46, “Amendments to the Custody Rules,” and it is listed as pending review. For any adviser or family office holding client crypto, this is the rule that decides what “qualified custody” is allowed to mean.
Nothing has changed yet. A rule under review at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is not law, is not published, and is not open for comment. What it does tell you is that the agency has finished drafting and is now clearing the last procedural gate before a proposal goes public.
| RIN | 3235-AN46 |
| Title | Amendments to the Custody Rules |
| Agency | Securities and Exchange Commission |
| Received by OIRA | 25 August 2026 |
| Status | Pending review |
| Stage | Proposed rule, not final |
What the custody rule does today
The current rule is 17 CFR 275.206(4)-2, written under the Investment Advisers Act. An adviser with custody of client assets has to hold them with a qualified custodian, and the definition of qualified custodian is a short list: banks and savings associations, registered broker-dealers, registered futures commission merchants, and certain foreign financial institutions.
That list was written for securities and cash. It maps onto digital assets badly. A crypto-native custodian with strong operational controls may sit outside every category on it, while a bank with no digital-asset capability sits inside. Advisers have spent years working around that mismatch rather than through it, which is the practical problem an amendment would address.
The gap matters most at the point where an adviser recommends something it cannot custody. That is the situation described in qualified custody for RIAs managing digital assets, and it is why so much adviser crypto sits in held-away accounts rather than under management.
Why the OIRA filing is the signal, not the news
Executive Order 12866 requires significant rules to clear OIRA before publication. The review is a real step with a real queue, and it produces a public docket entry with a date, which is why this is checkable rather than rumor. Reviews commonly run up to 90 days and can be extended.
What the docket entry does not tell you is the content. The title is four words. There is no text, no preamble, and no economic analysis available while a rule sits in review. Anyone describing what the rule says today is describing something they have not read.
There is precedent for caution here. A previous attempt to expand the custody rule to cover a broader class of client assets drew heavy comment and never reached a final rule. A new proposal starts that clock over: publication, a comment period, then a separate rulemaking to adopt anything final. The distance from this docket entry to an enforceable requirement is measured in years, not weeks.
What advisers and family offices should do while it is pending
The useful work is the work that pays off under any version of the rule. Three things qualify.
Know which custodian holds what, and under which entity within that custodian’s group. Custodian groups often contain a trust company, a broker-dealer, and an unregulated affiliate, and only one of them may hold the regulatory status you are relying on. That detail is the first thing an examiner asks about and the last thing most files answer.
Write down the analysis you already did. If you concluded a given custodian is a qualified custodian, the reasoning belongs in the file with a date on it. A rule change tests whether you were thinking, not whether you guessed the outcome.
Keep the surprise-examination and account-statement mechanics working. Those obligations exist under the current rule and no proposal has suspended them. The crypto compliance checklist for RIAs covers which rule puts each line on the list, which is the part that survives a rewrite.
What this changes for private clients
If you hold crypto personally and your adviser does not touch it, this rule does not reach you. It governs advisers, not owners. The reason to watch it anyway is that the definition of qualified custodian shapes which custodians serve the adviser market, and that shapes the options available when you eventually want assets managed rather than self-held.
The decision that does not depend on the rule is the structural one: who owns the assets, who can move them, and what proves both. That is settled by titling and entity documents, not by a federal register notice. Digital asset custody covers how self-custody and qualified custody differ on exactly that point.
Common questions
Has the SEC changed the crypto custody rule? No. A proposed amendment is under White House review as RIN 3235-AN46, received 25 August 2026. Nothing is published, nothing is final, and the current rule still applies.
When would a new rule take effect? Unknown. After OIRA review a proposal is published for public comment, and only a later adopting release creates an obligation. Each stage takes months, and proposals sometimes never reach adoption.
What is a qualified custodian right now? Under 17 CFR 275.206(4)-2, a bank or savings association, a registered broker-dealer, a registered futures commission merchant, or certain foreign financial institutions. Whether a given crypto custodian fits is a facts-and-circumstances question about the specific legal entity.
Where can I check the status myself? The OIRA pending-review docket at reginfo.gov lists the RIN, the receipt date, and the current status. It updates as the review moves.
Educational only, not legal, tax, or investment advice. A rule under review is not law and its contents are not public. Check primary sources and speak with a qualified professional before making decisions.
Sources
- Amendments to the Custody Rules, RIN 3235-AN46, OIRA pending review
- 17 CFR 275.206(4)-2, Custody of funds or securities of clients by investment advisers
Part of our guide: Digital Asset Custody.
