The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is hosting its second roundtable on crypto regulation tomorrow, April 25th, focusing on a crucial issue: cryptocurrency custody. Following its successful first session, this event promises to delve deeper into the legal complexities surrounding how crypto assets are stored.
The roundtable will feature two distinct panel discussions:
**Custody Through Broker-Dealers and Beyond:** Industry experts like Jason Allegrante (Fireblocks), Rachel Anderika (Anchorage Digital Bank), Terrence Dempsey (Fidelity Digital Assets), Mark Greenberg (Kraken), and others will discuss the current methods of storing crypto assets by both broker-dealers and third-party custodians.
**Custody by Investment Advisers and Investment Companies:** Legal experts like Justin Browder (Simpson Thacher & Bartlett), Neel Maitra (Dechert), Ryan Louvar (WisdomTree), and Adam Levitin (Georgetown University) will explore the clash between traditional finance rules and the realities of crypto custody.
The SEC’s own top officials, including Chairman Paul Atkins, Crypto Task Force Chief Richard Gabbert, and Commissioners Hester Peirce, Caroline Crenshaw, and Mark Uyeda, will open the event.
**Why a Regulatory Overhaul is Needed:** The current SEC guidelines require investment advisers to use qualified custodians like banks or broker-dealers for custody. However, the decentralized nature of crypto assets poses significant challenges in adhering to these regulations. Legal experts have highlighted that custody may be