SEC Clarifies Liquid Staking Tokens Not Securities

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has clarified that, in most cases, liquid staking does not fall under securities law. This document is part of the Project Crypto initiative.

Projects like Lido, Marinade Finance, JitoSOL, and Stakewise are not required to register with the SEC. The corresponding tokens are not considered securities, provided the underlying assets do not constitute an investment contract. 

“The Division believes that the offer and sale of staking receipt tokens under the described circumstances do not constitute a securities offering under Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act and Section 3(a)(10) of the Exchange Act—unless the deposited crypto assets are part of an investment contract,” the document states. 

Nate Geraci, president of NovaDius Wealth Management (formerly ETF Store), believes the SEC’s clarification could expedite the approval of spot exchange-traded funds based on Ethereum with staking features. 

SEC says certain liquid staking tokens are NOT securities…

Think last hurdle in order for SEC to approve staking in spot eth ETFs.

The reason?

Liquid staking tokens will be used to help manage liquidity w/in spot eth ETFs, something that was a concern for SEC. pic.twitter.com/tKJbEoQVNp

— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) August 5, 2025

“The SEC stated that certain liquid staking tokens are not securities… […] Such assets will be used to manage liquidity within spot ETH-ETFs, which was a concern for the regulator,” he wrote.

Jason Gottlieb, partner at Morrison Cohen, added that the Commission might similarly exclude cross-chain bridge tokens from securities laws. 

“The SEC’s stance on liquid staking tokens has important implications for other instruments. Specifically, it concerns coins for cross-blockchain transfers or wrapped assets, which by the same logic cannot be considered securities without additional conditions,” the expert noted in a comment to The Block. 

Under the leadership of Chairman Paul Atkins, appointed by the Trump administration, the SEC has softened its approach to cryptocurrency regulation. In May, the Commission stated that staking through software protocols or service providers is not a securities operation. 

On August 1, Atkins announced Project Crypto—a comprehensive initiative to modernize rules, aiming to transform the U.S. into the “world’s crypto capital.” Analysts at Bernstein described it as “the boldest and most transformative vision for cryptocurrency ever articulated by the SEC.”