The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released on December 18, 2025, a series of critical guidelines regarding crypto asset custody for brokers. Through its Division of Trading and Markets, the body seeks to clarify how regulated firms should handle these digital assets without violating federal laws. The US regulator is intensifying its oversight to ensure that customer assets remain fully protected at all times.
The new statement provides a detailed roadmap for broker-dealers to demonstrate that they physically possess the private keys of tokenized securities. Likewise, the agency emphasizes that compliance with these informal standards will prevent immediate enforcement actions by government supervisors in the country. Investment firms now have clearer parameters to manage the security of private keys for their growing client base.
Under this new perspective, financial institutions must implement robust policies that anticipate specific technical incidents within the distributed network. Therefore, corporate contingency plans must mandatory cover events such as 51% attacks, hard forks of the network, and operational failures of the block system. The regulatory focus prioritizes operational resilience against the technological risks inherent to the digital asset market today.
New Security Standards for Storage of Digital Securities and Tokenized Stocks
Hester Peirce, SEC Commissioner and leader of the crypto task force, noted that the industry needs to operate under transparent market structure rules. In this way, the publication of a frequently asked questions document seeks to delve into the activity of alternative trading systems (ATS). Information transparency will allow exchange platforms to operate with much greater legal certainty in the current financial landscape.
On the other hand, these recommendations could encourage traditional trading firms to integrate tokenized stocks and bonds into their usual service portfolios. Although the exact definition of a “crypto security” is still under debate, these guides provide the necessary comfort for massive institutional adoption. The integration of traditional assets into digital formats represents a significant advancement for the modernization of financial infrastructure.
Is this the final step for large financial institutions to adopt native digital asset custody?
The digital economy benefits from this opening, as it allows regulated intermediaries to offer a wider range of secure and compliant financial services. However, since these are staff statements and not formal rules, these guidelines could be reversed if the body’s political leadership changes. The long-term stability of the sector will depend on the consolidation of these guides into permanent and formal laws.
Finally, Commissioner Peirce urged for a reduction in barriers to entry for platforms seeking to innovate within a regulated and fair framework. The success of these measures will be measured by the ability of brokers to protect retail capital while exploring new settlement technologies. The continuous development of this regulatory framework will define the competitiveness of the United States capital markets soon.
