The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently proposed a regulatory framework for crypto asset custody, covering investment advisers and regulated funds, and allowing conditional self-custody and custody by state trust companies. Meanwhile, OKX and ICE are seeking SEC approval to launch 63 tokenized U.S. stocks under the SEC's new five-year trading exemption. The two developments point respectively to compliance for crypto asset custody and tokenized securities trading, both within the U.S. securities regulatory framework, making them important recent moves toward compliance in the crypto industry. This article focuses on these two latest developments under the SEC's regulatory framework.
The core of the SEC's proposed custody framework is to provide clearer custody regulatory arrangements for investment advisers and regulated funds. The framework does not fully open up self-custody; instead, it allows “conditional self-custody” while including state trust company custody as an optional path. This means crypto asset custody is no longer merely an internal risk control issue for the industry, but has been incorporated into compliance arrangements under the securities regulatory system. For investment advisers and regulated funds that need exposure to crypto assets, whether the custody path is clear directly affects whether they can conduct related business within the existing compliance framework. The framework has significant implications for industry compliance and institutional entry. At present, specific conditions, scope of application, and operational details have not been further disclosed, but the parallel design of “conditional self-custody” and “state trust company custody” already shows that regulators are seeking a balance between custody security, attribution of responsibility, and convenience of market participation. Going forward, attention should be paid to how the framework defines custody responsibility, how it reviews self-custody conditions, and what the applicable boundaries of state trust company custody are in practice.
Another SEC-related development comes from OKX and ICE. OKX has partnered with ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, to seek SEC approval to launch 63 tokenized U.S. stocks, and plans to provide related products under the SEC's new five-year trading exemption. If this application enters substantive review, it will push tokenized securities from conceptual discussion to concrete trading arrangements. The number of 63 tokenized U.S. stocks indicates that the application is not a single pilot but a securities tokenization plan covering a certain range. This development is seen as important progress in the integration of tokenized securities and traditional finance. The joint application by OKX and ICE involves the participation of traditional market infrastructure. Follow-up focus will be on whether the SEC accepts the application, how the five-year trading exemption applies, and the specific scope and compliance requirements of the 63 tokenized U.S. stocks.
From a regulatory logic perspective, the custody framework and the tokenized U.S. stock application are not isolated from each other. Custody is a foundational step for institutions to hold and manage crypto assets, while tokenized securities represent exploration of trading traditional assets in digital form. The former relates to “how to hold securely,” while the latter relates to “how to trade compliantly.” If the custody framework can provide an actionable compliance path for investment advisers and regulated funds, then the infrastructure conditions for institutions to participate in innovative products such as tokenized securities will be clearer; if the tokenized securities application advances, it will in turn impose higher requirements on custody and investor protection. These two developments together point to the connection between crypto asset custody and tokenized securities trading within the regulatory framework. For the industry, the relevant changes involve compliance, custody, trading venues, and market infrastructure arrangements, and are not merely the launch of a single product.
In terms of industry impact, the custody framework could change how investment advisers and regulated funds enter the crypto asset market. Previously, whether custody arrangements were compliant and who bore custody responsibility were often issues institutions had to face when allocating to crypto assets. If the new framework is ultimately implemented, state trust company custody and conditional self-custody will become two regulatory-recognized paths, but “conditional” means not all self-custody can be directly applied, and institutions still need to meet corresponding regulatory requirements. For custody service providers, state trust companies, and investment advisers, compliance capabilities will become a competitive factor. On the other hand, if OKX and ICE's application for 63 tokenized U.S. stocks obtains SEC approval, it will provide a more concrete market case for tokenized securities and could influence product design by other exchanges and traditional financial institutions. At present, the above application intentions and framework direction do not yet provide approval results, launch timelines, or specific terms, and the actual impact on the market still depends on subsequent regulatory processes.
Next, the market should focus on the details of the new custody framework, including the specific conditions for conditional self-custody, the scope of application for state trust company custody, the compliance obligations of investment advisers and regulated funds, and whether the framework sets transitional arrangements. At the same time, OKX and ICE's application for 63 tokenized U.S. stocks also requires attention to whether the SEC approves it, how the five-year trading exemption is implemented, which underlying assets the tokenized U.S. stocks cover, and whether related trading and custody arrangements comply with securities regulatory requirements. Together, the two developments show that U.S. crypto regulation is advancing specific rules and application processes in the two directions of custody and tokenization. Subsequent policy documents, application status, and compliance guidance will further determine the pace of institutional entry and the development of tokenized securities.
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