The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) advances crypto custody rules for crypto. According to the SEC, it is considering “changing existing rules and introducing new ones under the Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act. The changes would cover how investment advisers and funds hold client assets.”
The Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act both serve as regulatory frameworks for fund managers, among others, who invest on behalf of a client. With the change in rules, it would also oversee how assets are managed beyond fiat currencies or stocks—it would also cover cryptocurrencies and tokens. As the Clarity Act, a bill to change policies on crypto trading and reporting, is currently being drafted; and is reported to be stalling (and unlikely to pass), the SEC is taking steps to partially advance the legal landscape surrounding cryptocurrency trade, exchange, and management.
This is a step towards ‘jumping’ the current administration’s slow progress on evolving and creating policies for crypto. As SEC is non-partisan, it can push for policies quicker, and more efficiently. It does not need political support—in fact, it specifically refuses political influence. The steps the SEC is taking signals a shift in its role in crypto-trading. It moves from an agency that merely sanctions after the fact of a crime involving crypto, to one that makes new rules on crypto. SEC is thus bridging the gap that the bipartisan Congress and Senate legislators miss: a quick, comprehensive, and efficient law that both parties agree on; for changing regulations are already happening in the EU with reporting law, with some arguing that the U.S. is lagging in terms of comprehensive policy making.
The SEC has an important role in all matters financial for the U.S. From detecting crimes to pushing for reform, it does it with the purpose of exerting its goal without political influence. It is not to say that the SEC is only an entity that exists purely out of the reason for political neutrality. Rather, the SEC is a proactive watchdog and quasi-legislator for financial rules.
Coin Telegraph summarizes the shifting role of the SEC: “The SEC has taken a more crypto-friendly approach since Paul Atkins became chair in 2025, shifting its focus from enforcement actions toward developing clearer rules for the industry. Atkins vowed to end the agency’s previous ‘regulation through enforcement’ approach and said policymaking should instead be carried out through formal rulemaking.”
