SEC Crypto Broker Rule Enters White House Review
The SEC proposal on broker-dealer capital, customer protection and recordkeeping rules for crypto assets (RIN 3235-AN48) is now under White House review. The agenda sets no new capital charges or exemptions, and no text or publication date has been released.
A proposal to rewrite how US broker-dealer rules apply to crypto assets has left the SEC and landed at the White House. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) lists it as pending in its regulatory-review docket, with a received date of Nov. 3, 2026. The SEC submitted the amendments to the Office of Management and Budget earlier this week, a move first reported by Bloomberg.
The proposal is titled "Amendments to Broker-Dealer Financial Responsibility and Recordkeeping and Reporting Rules Regarding Crypto Assets." It carries regulatory identifier 3235-AN48 and sits at the proposed-rule stage. OIRA classes the submission as economically important.
The SEC's regulatory agenda entry points to three areas: how much capital brokers must hold as a cushion, how they safeguard customer securities, and which records they must create and retain. Its abstract says the aim is "to address the application of these rules to crypto assets." The proposal reportedly touches Rules 15c3-1 (net capital) and 15c3-3 (customer asset protection), along with Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4 on business records and retention, though the agenda itself does not name the rule numbers.
An SEC spokesperson told Bloomberg the commission expects to consider "fit-for-purpose rules" for crypto markets.
Think of net capital and customer-protection rules as the load-bearing walls of a brokerage, the parts of the structure that keep customers whole if something gives way. The rewrite, by the agenda's own description, is about working out how those walls apply when the assets inside the building are crypto.
What the review does not do
Caution is warranted about reading too much into the filing. The agenda does not specify new capital charges, custody conditions or exemptions, and no document shows a cut to any particular requirement. The review does not change firms' obligations or widen customer access to crypto products. OIRA lists no legal deadline for finishing its work, and neither the full text nor a publication date has been released.
Existing guidance is the current baseline. SEC staff have said compliance with the special-purpose broker-dealer custody framework is not mandatory, and that firms may establish control of crypto securities through qualifying custody locations under the existing customer-protection rule. That staff FAQ reflects staff views and carries no legal force, which is one reason a formal rulemaking matters.
Context
The initiative is separate from the adviser and investment-company custody rewrite, identified as 3235-AN46, which we covered when the SEC sent that custody rule rewrite to the White House. Together they show the commission working through the plumbing of crypto custody on two tracks, one for broker-dealers and one for advisers and funds.
The SEC is pressing ahead through its own rulemaking authority because crypto market structure legislation stalled in the Senate earlier this year, and the effort follows a 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump directing agencies to pursue regulatory clarity for digital financial technology. Until the proposal text appears, the substance of any changes for brokers remains unknown.
