# SEC staff states that described protocol staking activities are not securities transactions

> Corporation Finance staff stated that the protocol staking activities and ancillary services described in the statement do not involve securities transactions.

- URL: https://riadefi.com/regulation/2025-05-29-sec-protocol-staking-staff-statement/
- Posture: Official signal · nonbinding
- Authorities: SEC Division of Corporation Finance
- Event date: 2025-05-29
- Version: 1, published 2026-08-07 (first published 2026-08-07)
- Advisor-relevant: no

This entry records an official signal, such as a speech or a statement. It does not change the law.

## What changed

Corporation Finance staff stated that the protocol staking activities and ancillary services described in the statement do not involve securities transactions. The view is fact-specific, nonbinding, and does not extend automatically to liquid staking, restaking, yield guarantees, lending, or managed investment arrangements.

## Who it affects

- Advisers evaluating client staking programs
- Custodians, validators, staking providers, platforms, and proof-of-stake networks

## What is still open

- Treatment of arrangements with guarantees, discretion, leverage, pooling, or materially different economics
- Custody-rule, tax, slashing, liquidity, disclosure, and fiduciary consequences

## What it means for an advisor

- Map each staking arrangement against the staff’s stated facts
- Document validator selection, slashing, lockup, fee, custody, smart-contract, liquidity, and conflict controls

## Previous interpretation

SEC staff had not provided this current, category-specific view for the described protocol staking arrangements.

## Sources

1. [Statement on Certain Protocol Staking Activities](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/statement-certain-protocol-staking-activities-052925) · SEC Division of Corporation Finance · 2025-05-29


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Published by Ketju Research on RIADeFi (https://riadefi.com). Educational research for financial professionals; not investment, legal, tax, or compliance advice.