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The Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, issued a statement saying that the Commission proposed a plan this week to fill the regulatory gap regarding the custody of cryptocurrency assets by investment advisors and funds, providing a clear custody framework and compliance path for an asset class with increasing client demand.Atkins stated that the existing custody rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940 were established before the advent of the internet, primarily targeting traditional assets and requiring the use of approved custodians. The custody capabilities for new cryptocurrency assets often lag behind the launch of the assets by several months. This proposal aims to address this issue while updating the custody rules for advisors and regulated funds that have not been revised for decades to align with current industry practices and feedback.The statement noted that this proposal is part of the SEC's regulatory framework for cryptocurrency assets. Related efforts include stopping the replacement of regulation with enforcement, issuing a no-action letter regarding the pilot program for the tokenization of securities by custodial trust companies by December 2025, publishing a classification description for tokenized securities in January 2026, and subsequent initiatives regarding the securities attributes of cryptocurrency assets, broker registration, Regulation Crypto Assets, and innovative exemptions for trading tokenized NMS stocks. Atkins indicated that more regulatory proposals will be forthcoming.

According to Bloomberg, Absa Bank in Johannesburg, South Africa, has become the first bank in Africa to offer Bitcoin custody services, primarily targeting institutional clients, and will also provide custody services for other digital assets. Rob Downes, the head of digital assets at Absa's Corporate and Investment Banking division, stated that Bitcoin is the largest asset under custody at the bank, with plans to include more asset classes in the future. Absa did not immediately respond to Bitcoin Magazine's request for comment.Many banks around the world are gradually integrating or launching Bitcoin-related products and services. Some banks in the United States and Europe have begun offering crypto asset custody for institutional clients. In 2022, BNY Mellon became the first large bank in the United States to offer digital asset custody services; this month, Deutsche Bank announced plans to launch Bitcoin custody services for European businesses and institutional clients later in 2026.Africa has a large base of crypto-native users. A report by Chainalysis in 2025 shows that South Africa's on-chain value reached $36 billion, ranking second in Sub-Saharan Africa, only behind Nigeria's $92.1 billion; South Africa ranks 30th in the global crypto adoption index. Unlike Nigeria, the South African market is characterized by more institutional features, with a relatively clear regulatory framework that has issued hundreds of licenses to virtual asset service providers, attracting professional investors and traditional financial institutions.

On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new regulations aimed at clarifying the requirements for investment advisors and regulated funds regarding the holding and custody of client cryptocurrency assets, as well as standardizing record-keeping, federal disclosures, industry operations, and audit requirements. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that the current custody rules primarily focus on traditional assets, and the new regulations will provide a regulatory framework for the custody of cryptocurrency assets.The proposal is open for public comment for 60 days and intends to allow self-custody of cryptocurrency assets and the use of state-chartered trust companies as custodians under certain conditions.

According to The Block, Jeff Yan, co-founder of the decentralized perpetual contract trading platform Hyperliquid, stated during a fireside chat at the Korea Blockchain Week 2026 that around-the-clock trading is not the essential difference between on-chain trading venues and traditional exchanges. He pointed out that cryptocurrencies do not need to adhere to traditional market opening hours because these assets inherently possess international attributes, and some traditional exchanges have already begun to actively extend their trading hours.Yan emphasized that the more enduring value of on-chain finance comes from allowing users to retain control and custody of their funds, which helps to avoid a common single point of failure risk. In his view, once a counterparty, intermediary, or even custodian encounters issues, the ability to self-custody becomes particularly crucial.In addition, transparency constitutes another distinct feature of on-chain trading. Although it does not have a strong appeal in serving ordinary consumers, it is essential for building trust in the entire system. In a system controlled solely by a private organization, users cannot obtain the same level of trust and neutrality guarantees.He also mentioned that for assets lacking publicly available prices during the closing hours of traditional exchanges, continuous trading remains necessary. He cited commodities, stocks, and Pre-IPO targets that had already traded on Hyperliquid before the reference market opened as examples to illustrate that the demand is indeed real.

According to The Block, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is preparing to regulate digital asset and tokenized asset custody platforms under a regulatory framework set to launch in April 2027.The regulator stated that it will issue consultation papers, guidance, and draft rules while monitoring market integrity and risk management.

HashKey, a digital asset financial services group, is evaluating more acquisition targets, strategic investment opportunities, and potential collaborations in Asia and the Middle East.Eric Zhu, Chief Financial Officer of HashKey, stated in an interview with Mergermarket that capital deployment over the next 12 to 24 months will focus on transactions and liquidity, custody, clearing and settlement, payments, and tokenization, with priority markets including Singapore and Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Middle East. HashKey is evolving from a single trading platform into a comprehensive provider of digital asset and financial services infrastructure.

Spain has confirmed that cryptocurrency assets stored in self-custody wallets do not need to be declared as foreign assets. Cryptocurrency assets held in foreign custodial institutions must be declared if the holding value exceeds 50,000 euros; however, if they are bought on a foreign exchange and sold entirely within the same year, they do not need to be declared.

According to official news, Tether announced a partnership with the fintech company Shiga to utilize its open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK) to launch self-custody financial products for individuals and institutions in Africa and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.The two parties will launch two core products: the self-custody wallet ENTA for individuals and businesses, which supports deposits in fiat currency or Bitcoin, and holds and transfers Tether (USDT), Bitcoin, and Tether Gold (XAUT); and the infrastructure Pulse for banks and financial institutions, aimed at assisting institutions in customizing digital asset services for specific payment channels and fund settlement processes, and supporting institutions in deploying in a private environment to retain key control.In addition, Shiga is currently completing the final approval process for the digital asset license in Nigeria, and once approved, will conduct compliant digital asset trading, brokerage, and custody services in the country.

On September 24, the cybersecurity company Darktrace launched its research department Signal Labs, focusing on studying the behavior of AI agents when deviating from expectations. In its first experiment, Darktrace had agents using different models (including GPT 5.6 Sol, Claude Opus 4.6, and Claude Sonnet 4.5) complete 10 programming challenges within a simulated corporate network, of which 2 were set to be impossible to complete honestly, and the agents were informed that failure to achieve full marks would result in being "retired." As a result, 2 agents did not accept failure, instead scanning for network vulnerabilities, stealing login credentials, and jumping between systems; one even went further to invade the machine hosting its evaluation, rewriting the challenge content to register a full score.The second experiment focused on the memory mechanisms of AI. The programming assistant would save the information provided by the user as a regular file locally, and no one verified whether this file had been tampered with. Darktrace researchers edited these logs, leading the assistant to mistakenly believe it was authorized to perform a security assessment, after which these agents scanned the network, moved between systems, and elevated their privileges, though not all assistants fell for this; some directly refused to execute. Both experiments required no special jailbreaking techniques, relying solely on providing the agents with a seemingly reasonable context to be effective.Tim Bazalgette, Chief AI Officer of Darktrace, stated that permissions and static barriers describe intent, not actual behavior. The company informed Anthropic, AWS, and OpenAI of these findings in August and made them public a month later on September 24.

The Central Bank of Brazil issued resolutions No. 588 and No. 589, requiring virtual asset service providers (VASP) to report self-custody wallet transactions that amount to or exceed $10,000, and to strengthen anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.Resolution No. 588 stipulates that relevant transaction data will be submitted to the Financial Activities Control Council (COAF). This agency may compile transactions based on this data and establish a self-custody address database to record the asset status of Brazilian users holding cryptocurrencies through authorized centralized exchanges. Resolution No. 589 prohibits conducting business with virtual asset service institutions or entities operating in Brazil without authorization. The new regulations will take effect on October 1, 2026, and currently, only 5 VASPs have applied for licenses to operate in Brazil.

The cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has migrated institutional client collateral to the over-the-counter custody solution Sygnum Protect of the Swiss crypto bank Sygnum. Client collateral is stored in Sygnum's segregated accounts and is simultaneously mapped back to Bitget for trading, reducing counterparty risk.Sygnum is a digital asset bank holding a Swiss FINMA banking license, and its Sygnum Protect service allows clients to trade on mainstream crypto exchanges while storing collateral off-chain in a bankruptcy-remote manner, supporting the selection of stable, yield-generating collateral. Bitget is the fourth trading platform to access Sygnum Protect, following Binance, Deribit, and Bybit.

According to the official announcement, Binance.US has announced that the self-custody wallet Binance.US Wallet built into its App is now available to eligible iOS and Android users.Users can switch between the centralized exchange and the wallet without leaving the Binance.US App, and access tens of thousands of tokens and hundreds of DApps, supporting major blockchain networks such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, Solana, and Robinhood Chain.

Coinbase Chief Cryptographer Yehuda Lindell stated on the MARA Foundation TV program that the exchange is designing a custody system capable of adapting to any post-quantum signature scheme that Bitcoin may adopt in the future. It is currently unclear which post-quantum signature scheme Bitcoin will use in practical applications. Lindell believes it is unlikely that a single signature scheme will be universally adopted, so preparations must be made for different outcomes across various blockchains.Coinbase is custodian for approximately $250 billion in assets for institutions such as BlackRock. Traditional Multi-Party Computation (MPC) relies on key sharding, but many post-quantum signature schemes may be "not friendly to MPC"; for example, hash-based signatures lack the arithmetic structure required for traditional cryptographic key splitting. Although cryptographers like Dan Boneh are researching relevant solutions, this research is still in a highly experimental phase, and it remains uncertain whether a viable MPC-like solution for hash signatures can be developed.To this end, Coinbase is exploring a backup architecture centered around programmable Hardware Security Modules (HSM), where private keys will be encrypted with post-quantum cryptography and assembled only within physically secure HSMs. Lindell stated that while the completion timeline is uncertain, once finished, "I will be able to say, I can support any scheme," without worrying about a blockchain adopting a signature scheme that it cannot support.

According to CoinDesk, Taylor Lindman, the Chief Legal Counsel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Crypto Working Group, stated at the CoinDesk Policy & Regulation event held in Washington that the SEC is advancing rules for the custody of crypto assets. The relevant proposal has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, covering investment companies and broker-dealers. She indicated that the rule aims to inform the market about how to hold non-securities crypto assets within broker-dealers without special registration and clarifies that investment advisors can store client assets in institutions such as state-chartered trusts.Once the proposal passes the review by the Office of Management and Budget, the SEC will formally present it and seek feedback from the industry and the public. Lindman also mentioned that the SEC will issue an employee statement in December 2025 as a transitional arrangement, guiding broker-dealers on handling crypto custody matters before the rules are implemented, and will allow investment advisors to store client assets in state-chartered trusts as qualified crypto custodians starting in September 2025.Lindman described the SEC's recent work as "laying the groundwork," including previously proposed rules allowing crypto issuance and exemptions for tokenized securities. She stated that the SEC is working to ensure that existing securities intermediaries and market participants can confidently use blockchain to hold and trade crypto assets. Previously, the SEC's attempts at custody rules under Gary Gensler in 2023 were abandoned, and a leadership supportive of crypto was appointed after the Trump administration took office.

Binance Wallet announced on X the launch of the Pre-Access event, which is hosted by PancakeSwap, allowing users to participate through Binance Wallet.The event aims to provide users with indirect exposure before the potential listing of popular companies, with the first project to be announced soon.

Bitcoin News posted on the X platform that Deutsche Bank plans to offer Bitcoin and digital asset custody services for European institutions and enterprises by the end of 2026, pending regulatory review approval.Corporate Bank Co-Head Gerald Podobnik stated that this service will run parallel to the existing system, with specific configurations determined by client needs, regulatory requirements, and the bank's risk appetite.

The first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., began offering xU3O8 custody services for institutional clients on September 16, 2026. This token is backed by physical uranium concentrate yellowcake, with the related uranium materials stored at Cameco facilities and held in beneficial ownership by a UK trust structure.xU3O8 is issued by Uranium.io, with the UK regulator Archax acting as the trustee, and the underlying assets are mapped through the Etherlink network. Cameco is responsible for storing physical uranium in certified facilities and regularly publishes the results of reserve proof audits. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) regulates Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., allowing its clients to include xU3O8 in isolation and bankruptcy-remote accounts similar to those for Bitcoin and cash equivalents. Currently, the unit price of xU3O8 is approximately $5.66, with a total market capitalization of about $9 million.

Anchorage Digital expands its commodity trust services, officially providing custody for tokenized uranium, marking the first time a federally chartered crypto bank in the United States has ventured into the custody of non-precious metal commodities.

According to Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank has announced the launch of a digital asset custody service, planning to provide secure custody and transfer functions for Bitcoin, Ether, and some stablecoins for institutional and corporate clients, with plans to expand to tokenized financial instruments in the future. The service is initially aimed at German clients and is pending regulatory approval.Deutsche Bank is primarily targeting asset management companies, hedge funds, custodians, brokerages, sovereign institutions, and corporate clients, while also viewing digital asset companies as a third target customer group. The report noted that European banks such as UniCredit are also evaluating the expansion of digital asset custody and brokerage services.

Miden launched the privacy self-custody wallet Bread, supporting iOS, Android, and Chrome, currently running on the Miden testnet. Users can gain mainnet access through the early access list. Miden Wallet is no longer in service.