A proposed U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule on digital asset custody could expand investment advisers’ direct holdings of bitcoin and broaden client access, a forecast said. Coinbase, which already provides key custody infrastructure for bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), highlighted the potential to benefit as the regulated wealth management market expands.

Bitcoin Magazine reported on Oct. 5 that Coinbase Chief Business Officer Shan Aggarwal (Shan Aggarwal) said changes to the SEC’s custody rules could broaden access routes to bitcoin for financial advisers and wealth managers. Aggarwal said Coinbase provides custody services for most bitcoin ETFs and also supports the investment adviser community.

The SEC earlier proposed amendments to its custody rules to clarify how investment advisers and regulated funds hold digital assets. Under the proposal, if a qualified custodian cannot be used, a pathway would be created for funds managed through investment advisers and advisers to directly hold clients’ digital assets. The SEC said it aims to clarify the regulatory framework for digital asset custody.

Coinbase views the regulatory change as going beyond simply adding another bitcoin investment product and as potentially increasing access across the wealth management market. It believes that if holdings expand through financial advisers and wealth managers, in addition to individuals buying bitcoin directly on exchanges, the channels through which money flows into bitcoin could also widen.

Rising demand from institutional investors was also cited. Requirements major financial institutions such as BlackRock and JPMorgan have for bitcoin infrastructure, along with traditional finance’s push into bitcoin and digital asset markets, were presented as key discussion topics. Coinbase highlighted its role in providing financial infrastructure that links institutions and advisers with ETFs, including custody.

Coinbase Vice President Ryan VanGrack (Ryan VanGrack) said that the clearer the regulatory framework becomes in connection with the SEC’s custody rule proposal, the easier it is for institutional funds to flow in. He also said direct bitcoin holdings and ETFs are not substitutes and can both grow.

Coinbase is also expanding financial infrastructure beyond its bitcoin business. Coinbase said it received approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) related to its in-house clearinghouse, and it stressed that tokenisation is a technology that could significantly reshape financial market infrastructure after electronic trading. It said wider tokenisation could reduce intermediary steps in existing financial markets.

Stablecoins were also cited as a key business area. Coinbase put forward a $1 trillion opportunity in the stablecoin market and is also working with Citi to build stablecoin payment infrastructure for companies. The approach supports Citi clients moving between fiat currencies and stablecoins without separately building bank and digital asset systems.

Other topics discussed included the potential for expanded bitcoin holdings through the Coinbase One Card, the use of the bitcoin Lightning network, competition between bitcoin and stablecoins as payment methods for artificial intelligence (AI) agents, and the expansion of collectibles and everyday spending rewards services. The discussions highlighted that Coinbase is expanding beyond an exchange into custody, payments, tokenisation and broader wealth management infrastructure.

In the two interviews, Coinbase officials stressed that regulation and financial infrastructure play important roles as access to bitcoin expands in the regulated market. If the SEC’s proposal is finalised as a rule and leads to advisers directly holding bitcoin, the competitive landscape in the bitcoin market could also broaden beyond trading services to focus on custody, payments and institutional support infrastructure.