The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is examining custody rules for digital assets, including how broker-dealers, asset managers, and investment advisers handle cryptocurrency transactions, said its head on Friday.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins, discussing his recently announced Project Crypto, stated that the agency is “mobilizing at the SEC all our different divisions and offices” to implement recommendations aimed at making the U.S. a more crypto-friendly nation. This involves adjusting rules “that have been around for 90 years or so.”
“We don’t want the crypto assets to be on some flash drive in somebody’s drawer,” he emphasized. “They need to be in a secure place … the reason for addressing these various regulations is to provide certainty for people.”
The SEC’s efforts will be based on legislation passed by Congress, including the already-signed GENIUS Act and other existing market structure legislative initiatives.
“Our goal is to achieve clarity and certainty,” he remarked. “It will be supported by whatever comes out of Congress, but I believe we have the authority to move forward in these areas and provide that clarity and certainty for people.”
When asked about a recent district court ruling on debit card interchange fees, Atkins mentioned that it could support real-time or instant payment networks, asserting that moving toward instant payment settlements “would be ideal.”
This payment method could be enhanced by utilizing blockchain technology, although he noted that the system might need a delay to address potential errors.
“The longer it takes to clear transactions, the greater the risk there is for things to go wrong, some black swan event,” he stated.
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