Server-rendered tracker page for custody regulation in United States. This page is built for Google and LLM crawlers: every event below links to a permanent policy-event URL with source data and APAC FINSTAB analysis.
Jurisdiction: United States. Regulator: SEC / CFTC / Treasury / Congress. Topic: Custody. Latest event: September 25, 2026 — SEC Vault Comments Put DeFi Management Discretion Under Adviser Scrutiny.
Use this page to compare rule changes, licensing signals, enforcement posture, and market-access implications for exchanges, stablecoin issuers, protocols, custodians and institutional teams operating across APAC.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce's comments and Morpho's related vault classification debate put onchain vaults on a functional regulatory footing, distinguishing non-custodial structures from discretionary management. The boundary matters for adviser status, manager keys, strategy authority and user exit rights.
SEC Crypto Task Force counsel Taylor Lindman said the agency is working on crypto custody rules for broker-dealers, investment advisers, and qualified custodians. The rule path could define how non-security crypto assets are held without special registration and which state trust companies qualify for client custody.
The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval for Agora National Trust Bank, moving a stablecoin infrastructure firm toward direct federal trust-bank supervision for custody, stablecoin operations and transaction services.
Canary Capital filed a second S-1 amendment for a staked SEI ETF targeting roughly 90% asset staking with BitGo as custodian. The structure puts validator selection, rewards, slashing risk, and redemption liquidity inside the ETF disclosure perimeter.
The House Financial Services Committee is set to mark up H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, which would establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and formalise federal digital-asset reserve handling. A committee markup would sharpen policy questions around government BTC custody, accounting and disposition.
Representative Darrell Issa introduced legislation requiring federal agencies to identify, safeguard and inventory digital assets discovered on seized electronic devices. DOJ and NIST standards would affect crypto seizure handling, private-key preservation, custody vendors and disposal records.
Block applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form Builders Bank & Trust, N.A. as an uninsured national trust bank for bitcoin, stablecoin and fiduciary custody services. If approved, the federal trust-bank path would move private-key control, customer asset segregation, BSA/AML governance and stablecoin custody duties under OCC supervision.
Ledger reportedly faces a class action in the Southern District of New York alleging failures to protect customer personally identifiable information and to disclose a December 2023 security incident in time. The case pushes wallet and custody due diligence beyond private-key controls into PII collection, retention, breach notification and phishing-risk governance.
Token Terminal data cited by Wu Blockchain showed Securitize-issued BlackRock BUIDL at about $2.8 billion in market value, again leading tokenized US Treasury funds ahead of Circle USYC. The concentration reinforces transfer-agent, qualified-investor, redemption-window and secondary-liquidity controls as core RWA compliance points.
The SEC sent a proposal to the White House OMB to modernize custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies holding client crypto assets. The rulemaking could clarify qualified custodian treatment, wallet control, asset segregation, audit evidence and client disclosure obligations for digital asset funds and advisers.
Zerohash has refiled a narrower OCC national trust bank charter application after its earlier application was returned without decision. The public comment period runs to September 17 and will test the licensing boundary for digital asset custody, settlement and institutional infrastructure.
Base said Coinbase-issued tokenized stocks are live under the B20 standard, with tokens representing shares held 1:1 by a regulated custodian for eligible non-U.S. users. The structure raises securities custody, redemption, transferability and DeFi-reuse questions for tokenized equity reviewers.
Grayscale filed a fifth amendment with the SEC for its proposed Zcash ETF, which would convert the Zcash Trust into an NYSE Arca-listed product with Coinbase Custody as custodian. The filing keeps privacy-coin exposure in the U.S. ETF pipeline and raises custody, surveillance and asset-eligibility questions.
DTCC said its tokenization service processed U.S. trades using DTC-held securities across multiple onchain workflows. The pilot strengthens the regulated-market path for tokenized securities, with direct implications for custody, legal ownership, settlement finality, collateral and broker-dealer controls.
BNY Mellon is preparing 24/7 U.S. Treasury settlement infrastructure and plans tokenized Treasury pilots before the end of 2026. The move pushes tokenized securities and stablecoin-linked settlement from experiments toward regulated market infrastructure.
Coinbase Markets said LCX sends and receives will be disabled from July 27 to July 29, with remaining LCX converted one-for-one into the new token. The event is a direct exchange-operations control case for token migrations, user notices, old-contract delisting and unsupported-deposit recovery.
Drop Site News reported that Consensys unknowingly hired a DPRK-linked developer consultant who used the Tyler Knapp alias and worked on MetaMask-related code. The case turns developer onboarding, vendor screening, repository access and sanctions controls into a front-line wallet compliance issue.
New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte signed HB 639, a state-level blockchain law covering digital-asset self-custody and protections for blockchain developers, miners, validators and related businesses. The law gives U.S. crypto operators a supportive state-law signal, while federal securities and commodities analysis still controls broader market access.
Circle received final Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approval to establish a federally supervised national trust bank. The charter strengthens the federal oversight path for USDC reserve custody and future stablecoin infrastructure.
Custodia Bank asked the US Supreme Court to review its denied access to the Federal Reserve payment system. The case could define whether state-chartered crypto banks can obtain master accounts for regulated settlement access.
A new Senate draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is expected as soon as next week, reportedly adding more than 70 pages and stronger consumer protection language. The next text will shape SEC-CFTC allocation, exchange registration and custody rules for U.S. crypto markets.
Fidelity launched the Fidelity Reserves Digital Fund for stablecoin issuers and institutional investors, targeting reserve assets permitted under the GENIUS Act. The product shows traditional asset managers turning stablecoin reserve compliance into regulated money-market infrastructure.
Charles Schwab told advisor-media participants that it plans to offer spot crypto trading, transfers, and custody for RIA clients by mid-2027. The plan would bring crypto custody into one of the largest U.S. advisor custody channels and pressure incumbent institutional custodians.
Louisiana's HB1256 creates an unclaimed-property framework for abandoned digital assets, including a three-year dormancy trigger after the owner's last account activity. Custodians and VASPs serving Louisiana users will need state-level procedures for dormant crypto accounts.
Nomura-backed Laser Digital received conditional OCC approval for a U.S. national trust bank charter, enabling federally supervised custody and administration of tokenized, digital and conventional assets once final conditions are met. The approval extends the U.S. trust-bank pathway for institutional digital-asset custody and collateral services.
Anchorage Digital Bank's USA stablecoin transparency page and latest reserve coverage show USA-backed supply expanding sharply through April while maintaining disclosed reserve backing. The report makes bank-issued stablecoin attestations a live comparison point for post-GENIUS Act stablecoin listing and custody reviews.
VanEck launched VBNB as a U.S.-listed spot BNB ETF with BNB held in cold storage by Anchorage Digital Bank and a 0.39% fee. The product extends the regulated ETF wrapper beyond BTC and ETH, raising the compliance status of BNB-linked exposure for institutional access and listing reviews.
NYDFS granted GalaxyOne Prime NY a BitLicense and Money Transmission License, authorizing regulated institutional digital asset services in New York. The approval expands Galaxy's institutional trading and custody footprint in one of the strictest US crypto licensing regimes.
Minnesota enacted HF 3709 to allow state-chartered banks and credit unions to provide virtual-currency custody services from August 1, 2026. The law adds asset segregation and advance risk-management notice requirements, extending regulated custody access at the US state level.
Coinbase became Hyperliquid's official USDC treasury deployer as USDH is sunset and USDC is elevated as the ecosystem's aligned quote asset. The transaction shows a DeFi derivatives venue importing CEX balance-sheet, stablecoin and compliance infrastructure instead of operating a fully independent native stablecoin stack.
Anchorage Digital and Grupo Salinas' Coinpro unit formed a partnership to use bank-grade stablecoin infrastructure for cross-border U.S. dollar settlement. The deal pushes federally chartered crypto-bank rails deeper into Mexico-U.S. payments and adds compliance pressure to informal USDT-MXN settlement channels.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the agency is considering formal rulemaking for onchain trading systems, blockchain settlement infrastructure, automated financial applications and crypto vaults. The remarks reinforce the SEC's shift away from an enforcement-first stance toward explicit market structure rules.
The US Labor Department proposed a rule following a Trump executive order directing regulators to expand digital asset access in retirement portfolios. This could open trillions in 401(k) funds to crypto exposure. APAC exchanges and custodians with US-compliant infrastructure (HashKey, OSL) may benefit from increased institutional flows as US retirement capital seeks regulated crypto access points.
Federal Reserve prepares capital rules that would penalize banks for holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets. The move comes as US crypto tensions escalate, potentially affecting APAC banks' digital asset strategies and cross-border custody arrangements.
Crypto.com receives conditional approval from US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter. Upon full approval, Crypto.com National Trust Bank will operate as a qualified custodian for digital assets under direct OCC supervision. Significant milestone for institutional crypto custody in US market with implications for APAC operations.
Crypto.com received conditional OCC approval to charter Foris Dax National Trust Bank (d/b/a Crypto.com National Trust Bank). Planned services include institutional-grade custody, staking across blockchains including Cronos, and trade settlement under federal regulatory oversight.