The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will host the third in its four-part roundtable series on April 25, this time zeroing in on crypto custody.
On April 16, the U.S. SEC announced the agenda and panelists for the upcoming April 25 roundtable with a focus on crypto custody. The roundtable—titled “Know Your Custodian: Key Considerations for Crypto Custody”—will bring together key voices in the digital asset space, including Mark Greenberg of Kraken, Rachel Anderika of Anchorage Digital Bank, Veronica McGregor of Exodus, and representatives from Fidelity Digital Asset Services, WisdomTree, and Fireblocks.
Commissioners Hester Peirce and Caroline Crenshaw, along with acting Chair Mark Uyeda and Crypto Task Force Chief of Staff Richard Gabbert, will participate on behalf of the SEC.
“It is important for the SEC to grapple with custody issues, which are some of the most challenging as we seek to integrate crypto assets into our regulatory structure,” said Commissioner Peirce, who leads the Task Force.
The upcoming session marks the third in the SEC’s four-part series of public roundtables. Previous events, held on March 21 and April 11, focused on the classification of tokens as securities and tailoring regulations for crypto trading, respectively. Future discussions will cover asset tokenization and decentralized finance.
As regulators gather to discuss how crypto custody should be handled, some of the loudest calls for change have already arrived on the SEC’s desk.
A16z: Let RIAs hold crypto directly
On April 9, Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz sent a formal letter to the SEC, urging the Commission to update its crypto custody rules to better accommodate the needs of registered investment advisers. The firm argues that current regulations, rooted in the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, are outdated and incompatible with the unique properties of digital assets.
According to a16z, because digital assets often come with on-chain governance rights, staking capabilities, or yield-generating mechanisms, custody isn’t just about safekeeping—it’s about preserving the full economic utility of the asset. However, when held in traditional custodial arrangements, these features can become inaccessible, which limits their value for clients.
In a follow-up blog post, a16z outlined five “Crypto Custody Principles,” emphasizing the need for a flexible regulatory approach that ensures asset security while taking into account these features.
“Under this principle, we posit that RIAs should select a third-party crypto custodian… that allows for the RIA to exercise economic or governance rights,” a16z noted. “If a third party can’t meet both requirements, an RIA’s transfer of an asset to temporarily self-custody… shouldn’t be considered a transfer out of custody.”
The firm also discouraged rigid distinctions like hot vs. cold wallets and instead proposed a risk-based framework to mitigate loss, theft, or misuse.
While a16z stopped short of asking for an overhaul of the SEC’s broader Custody Rule, it called for temporary guidance and clarified pathways that align with fiduciary duties without stifling crypto-native operations.
“Our aim is not to expand the scope of the Custody Rule beyond securities,” the firm said, “but to extend its goals—security, periodic disclosure, and independent verification—to the new asset class of tokens.”
