SEC Endorses Self-Custody of Assets as a Fundamental Right

The head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, announced a new approach by the agency towards non-custodial cryptocurrency storage, describing this right as a “fundamental American value.” 

The statement was made on June 6th at the final roundtable of the cryptocurrency task force titled “DeFi and the American Spirit.” It marks a departure from the policy of the previous administration.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao emphasized that June 6th “will be remembered as the day of decentralized finance.”

6/9 will be remembered as DeFi day. https://t.co/EZ02oVyfea

— CZ ? BNB (@cz_binance) June 10, 2025

Atkins added that he advocates for giving market participants more flexibility in self-custody of crypto assets. In his view, this is particularly important in cases where intermediaries create “unnecessary fees” or limit participation in staking and other on-chain activities.

New SEC Policy

Following the inauguration of President Donald Trump and the departure of former chairman Gary Gensler, the agency has become more accommodating towards the crypto industry. Since the beginning of the year, the SEC has ceased investigations against Coinbase, Robinhood, Ripple, Kraken, ConsenSys, Cumberland, Nova Labs, and Uniswap. 

The Commission has also established a cryptocurrency task force. In recent months, it has conducted five roundtables focused on tokenization, custody, trading, and the definition of securities.

Atkins criticized the regulator’s previous approach. According to him, the agency undermined innovation in self-custody by attempting to equate developers with brokers and forcing them to comply with SEC rules.

“I do not believe we should allow century-old regulatory frameworks to stifle innovation. These technologies can revolutionize and, most importantly, improve our traditional intermediary model. We should not fear the future,” he emphasized.

The SEC head also stated that he has instructed Commission staff to determine the next steps. They are to assess whether new guidelines or rules will help registered organizations legally interact with software systems for self-custody of assets.

In May, the SEC stated that staking under certain conditions does not violate U.S. securities laws.

Later, Atkins emphasized that oversight of industry participants “will be conducted through notices and comments, rather than enforced regulation.”