Crypto Custody in Focus as SEC Reveals Agenda for April Roundtable

Highlights:

• The SEC will hold a four-hour crypto custody roundtable with experts from leading firms.
• Key speakers from Fireblocks, Anchorage, Kraken, and others will join two sessions on digital asset custody.
• The SEC will continue with public talks as it shifts its approach to digital assets.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has announced the full agenda and participant list for its upcoming crypto roundtable scheduled for April 25. The event will last four hours and will be split into two sessions. The first session is titled “Custody Through Broker-Dealers and Beyond,” while the second session is named “Investment Adviser and Investment Company Custody.”

🚨NEW: The @SECGov has announced details for its third #crypto policy roundtable.

The April 25th event will focus on custody issues, featuring two panels — one on broker-dealer and wallet custody, and another on investment adviser and investment company custody.

Panelists for…

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) April 16, 2025

Zach Zweihorn, a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, will serve as moderator throughout the event. Opening remarks will be delivered by crypto task force Chief of Staff Richard Gabbert, Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, and Commissioner Hester Peirce.

The event will take place at the SEC headquarters in Washington, D.C. Moreover, it will be livestreamed for the public to follow. This roundtable marks the third in a series that the SEC is holding as part of its spring initiative focused on digital assets.

Industry Leaders Join SEC Panel Amid Shifting Crypto Oversight

The first session of the day will include panelists from major digital asset firms. Jason Allegrante, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Fireblocks, and Rachel Anderika, Global Head of Operations at Anchorage Digital Bank, will take part in the discussion. In addition, Terrence Dempsey, Head of Product at Fidelity Digital Asset Services, will also take part in the discussion.

Also included is Mark Greenberg, who leads global asset growth and management at Kraken. Moreover, Veronica McGregor, Chief Legal Officer at Exodus Movement, and Brandon Russell, CEO of Etana Custody, are part of the roundtable. Tammy Weinrib, Chief Compliance Officer and BSA Officer at Copper Technologies, will also be included. These participants will discuss their experience with crypto asset custody and broker-dealer structures.

The second half of the roundtable will feature new speakers from other parts of the digital asset sector. Larry Florio, general counsel at 1kx, and Ryan Louvar, general counsel at WisdomTree Asset Management, will speak on issues related to custody for investment advisers and companies.

They will be joined by additional participants from a wide range of backgrounds. These include representatives from legal firms Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Schulte Roth & Zabel, Shearman Sterling, and Dechert. There will also be panelists from Distributed Global, Georgetown University Law Center, and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Acting Chair Uyeda established the crypto task force in January 2025. Specifically, its goal is to guide future actions on digital assets. The SEC launched a presidential task force on cryptocurrency as part of its Crypto 2.0 plan. That task force aims to apply the same trade reporting standards to crypto transactions as those used in the traditional market.

This roundtable follows earlier sessions held on March 21 and April 11. The first roundtable focused on the status of crypto tokens. In addition, the second looked at how to shape rules for crypto trading platforms.

New Leadership and Custody Demands Shape SEC’s Crypto Direction

Although the Senate confirmed Paul Atkins as the next SEC chair on April 9, the agency still lists Mark Uyeda as acting chair for the upcoming roundtable. It remains unclear when Atkins will take over the role officially.

The SEC’s recent actions suggest a shift in how it handles digital assets. It has dropped several lawsuits involving well-known firms such as Coinbase and Kraken. In addition, it has dropped charges against Gemini, Robinhood, Consensys, Yuga Labs, and CyberKongz. In early April, the agency released new guidance that classified certain fiat-backed stablecoins as non-securities. This move removed reporting requirements for those tokens.