SEC Chair Gensler proposes sweeping changes that would require crypto firms to register in order to custody assets

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Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler on Wednesday proposed sweeping changes to federal regulations that would expand custody rules to include assets like crypto and require companies to gain or maintain registration in order to hold those customer assets.

The proposed amendments to federal custody rules would «expand the scope» to include any client assets under the custody of an investment advisor. Current federal regulations only include assets like funds or securities, and require investment advisors, like Fidelity or Merrill Lynch, to hold those assets with a federal- or state-chartered bank, with a few highly specific exceptions.

It would be the SEC's most overt effort to rein in even regulated crypto exchanges that have substantial institutional custody programs serving high-net-worth individuals and entities which custody investor assets, like hedge funds or retirement investment managers.

The move poses a fresh threat to crypto exchange custody programs, as other federal regulators actively discourage custodians like banks from holding customer crypto assets. The amendments also come as the SEC aggressively accelerates enforcement attempts.

While the amendment doesn't specify crypto companies, Gensler said in a separate statement that «though some crypto trading and lending platforms may claim to custody investors' crypto, that does not mean they are qualified custodians.»

Under the new rules, in order to custody any client asset — including and specifically crypto — an institution would have to hold the charters, or qualify as a registered broker-dealer, futures commission merchant, or be a certain kind of trust or foreign financial institution.

SEC officials said that the