SEC Crypto Task Force Finally Wakes Up? Digital Asset Custody Roundtable Sparks Hope

After years of regulatory foot-dragging, the SEC’s crypto task force is hosting a roundtable on digital custody—because nothing says ’urgency’ like a bureaucratic discussion circle.

Wall Street’s slow dance with blockchain may finally be picking up tempo. The roundtable could signal a shift from paralysis to progress—or just another performative checkbox for the SEC’s ’we’re relevant’ bingo card.

Key questions on the table: Who gets to hold the keys? How to balance innovation with investor protection? And most importantly—will traditional finance’s legacy systems survive the custody revolution?

One thing’s certain: if the SEC moves at its usual glacial pace, crypto will have reinvented custody three times before the first regulation drops.

Details of the roundtable

Titled “Know Your Custodian: Key Considerations for Crypto Custody,” the SEC’s upcoming roundtable will spotlight one of the most concerning issues in digital asset regulation, and that is how cryptocurrencies should be securely held.

The event will include two focused discussions: one examining custody through broker-dealers, and another exploring custody obligations for investment advisers and companies.

Under existing SEC rules, advisers are required to store client assets with a “qualified custodian,” typically a bank or broker-dealer—a standard that has sparked considerable debate.

Legal experts like Neel Maitra have flagged crypto custody as perhaps the most pressing regulatory challenge in the industry, citing investor demands for both accessibility and protection.

Echoing these concerns, Simpson Thacher’s Justin Browder has criticized the SEC’s current stance, arguing that it places advisers in a difficult position—balancing regulatory compliance with the real-world needs of clients, especially given the limited number of qualified custodians equipped to handle digital assets.

Other sessions and why were they important

Building on the momentum of its roundtable on crypto trading, the SEC continues its broader push to modernize digital asset oversight through its multi-part policy series.

That session, dubbed “Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading,” brought together key industry players like Coinbase, Uniswap Labs, and the NYSE to explore the contours of a more adaptive regulatory model.

In that session, acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda had floated the idea of a temporary framework to bridge existing gaps while long-term rules are developed.

Hence, Uyeda put it best when he said, 

“While the Commission works to develop a long term solution to address these issues, a time-limited, conditional exempt relief framework for registrants and non-registrants could allow for greater innovation with blockchain technology within the United States in the NEAR term.”

Now, with additional sessions on tokenization and decentralized finance scheduled for the 12th of May and the 6th of June, the SEC appears committed to fostering an informed discussion as it seeks to redefine crypto governance in the U.S.