Overview

• On August 5, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a nonbinding staff statement that liquid staking activities and receipt tokens do not constitute securities under the Securities Act or Exchange Act when providers serve solely as administrative agents without entrepreneurial or managerial efforts.
• The statement builds on May 2025 protocol staking exemptions and forms part of Chair Paul Atkins’s Project Crypto initiative to modernize digital-asset regulation.
• Major liquid staking platforms such as Lido and Jito can now issue tradable receipt tokens like stETH and JitoSOL without registering as securities, preserving liquidity for users while they earn staking rewards.
• Industry leaders, including ETF Institute co-founder Nate Geraci, called the guidance the final barrier to staking-inclusive spot Ethereum ETFs, which could offer built-in yield to investors.
• Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw criticized the guidance for relying on a narrow set of assumptions, cautioning that its advisory status and potential leadership shifts could expose participants to future enforcement.