On 29 May 2025, Commissioner Hester M. Peirce of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) issued a public statement titled “Providing Security is not a ‘Security’” in support of the earlier statement released by the US SEC Division of Corporation Finance titled “Statement on Certain Protocol Staking Activities” regarding the application of US federal securities laws to protocol staking. Commissioner Peirce welcomed the US SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s clarification that staking certain crypto assets on proof-of-stake (PoS) or delegated PoS networks, whether by individuals or through non-custodial or custodial third-party providers, does not constitute a securities transaction when conducted within the factual framework outlined in the staff statement.
Commissioner Peirce stated that prior regulatory uncertainty had discouraged American participation in staking, which in turn affected the decentralisation and operational integrity of PoS blockchain networks. She expressed that the Division’s guidance restores needed clarity and enables broader participation in network security without the fear of breaching securities laws.
She highlighted that the US SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s statement covers activities such as solo staking, non-custodial third-party staking, and custodial staking services. The guidance also confirms that certain support features, such as slashing coverage, early unbonding, reward scheduling, and asset aggregation, do not, in themselves, turn staking into a securities offering. These services, the statement affirms, are technical or administrative in nature and do not alter the legal character of the staking activity.
Commissioner Peirce connected the US SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s staking guidance statement to its earlier March 2025 statement on proof-of-work mining, which similarly concluded that participating in blockchain consensus mechanisms, when limited to protocol execution, does not constitute a securities transaction. She noted that the US SEC Crypto Task Force is expected to continue examining the legal character of other network-based activities and encouraged stakeholders to submit questions and feedback to the Division.
Commissioner Peirce concluded with thanking Cicely LaMothe, Acting Director of the US SEC Division of Corporation Finance, and her team for producing the guidance.
(Source: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/peirce-statement-protocol-staking-052925)
