Blockchain Association, SIFMA, and FIA Ask Court to Uphold Established Protections for Customer Assets

Filing emphasizes a foundational principle across traditional and digital finance: assets held for customers belong to the customers—not the custodian or its creditors

Washington, D.C. (July 28, 2026) Blockchain Association (BA), the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), and the Futures Industry Association (FIA) today asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware for permission to submit a friend-of-the-court brief in litigation arising from the Prime Trust bankruptcy.

The proposed brief supports a motion by Zap Solutions, which operates Strike, to dismiss claims seeking the return of assets previously held by Prime Trust.

The case involves digital assets, but the fundamental principle at stake reaches across the financial system: When a company holds assets for a customer under an established custody arrangement, those assets belong to the customer—not the company holding them or its creditors.

Prime Trust and Zap expressly agreed that the assets at issue would be treated under Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Article 8 is a widely used legal framework that helps establish ownership rights for assets held through financial intermediaries.

The proposed brief argues that the court should respect that agreement and apply Article 8 as written.

“This case involves digital assets, but the principle at stake is much bigger than crypto,” said Summer Mersinger, CEO of Blockchain Association. “Customers should be able to trust that assets held for them will remain theirs—even if the company holding those assets fails. That certainty is fundamental to confidence across our financial system.”

Both traditional and digital finance broadly rely on Article 8, including in arrangements involving securities, commodities, derivatives, cash, and digital assets.

The filing also explains that Article 8’s protections do not disappear because a custodian experienced a shortfall, failed to meet its obligations, or held assets in a pooled account. Those protections are particularly important when a company fails and ownership rights are placed under pressure.

“Article 8 provides clear and practical rules for modern financial custody,” said Ashok Pinto, Executive Vice President of Legal and Government Relations at Blockchain Association. “Those rules matter most when a custodian fails. We are asking the court to uphold the framework the parties selected and that customers, markets, and regulators rely on every day.”

Blockchain Association, SIFMA, and FIA are not parties to the underlying dispute. Their members, however, represent a broad cross-section of digital-asset companies, broker-dealers, investment banks, asset managers, clearing firms, exchanges, and derivatives-market participants that rely on clear and predictable rules for assets held in custody.

The filing is available here.

About Blockchain Association

Blockchain Association is the leading nonprofit membership organization dedicated to promoting a pro-innovation policy environment for the digital asset industry. Blockchain Association represents more than 100 member companies, including software developers, infrastructure providers, exchanges, custodians, investors, and other organizations supporting the public blockchain ecosystem.