The Division of Corporate Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published a new clarification regarding staking activities in Proof-of-Stake (PoS)-based networks in an effort to provide greater clarity regarding how crypto assets relate to federal securities laws.
The statement announced that certain types of staking transactions do not need to register with the SEC.
In the statement published by the Department of Corporate Finance, it was stated that staking activities defined as “Protocol Staking” and performed on open and permissionless networks using the PoS consensus mechanism are not considered “securities offerings” under the federal securities laws. Therefore, it was stated that there is no requirement to register with the SEC for such transactions.
In PoS networks, users can take on the role of “Node Operator” by staking crypto assets defined as “Covered Crypto Assets” and integrated into the technical operation of the network. These operators are selected randomly or according to certain criteria as “Validators” according to certain protocol rules. In this process, validators receive both newly minted cryptocurrencies and a share of transaction fees in exchange for verifying new blocks.
The SEC statement detailed three different staking methods:
- Individual staking: Users stake directly by running their own nodes, and ownership of assets and private keys remain completely under the user's control.
- Direct self-custodial staking with a third party: Users retain ownership of their assets and private keys, authorizing a third node operator to perform verification operations.
- Escrow staking: Assets are held in a wallet controlled by a third party called the “Escrow.” The escrow uses these assets for staking transactions, but the ownership of the assets remains with the user and they are not used for lending, speculation, or other purposes.
*This is not investment advice.
