SEC Proposes Custody Rules for Crypto Held by Advisers and Funds

The significance lies less in the crypto-specific carve-outs than in the SEC accepting that existing custody frameworks can accommodate digital assets at all, which shifts the debate from whether advisers and funds may hold crypto to how. State trust companies gain a potential role that had been uncertain, and the self-custody conditions are the piece most likely to draw comment. Whether the proposal survives public feedback intact, particularly around self-custody safeguards, is the open question.