# SEC Says Certain Staking Receipt Tokens Fall Outside Securities Laws

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/24266
Published: 2026-09-25T20:54:56.000Z
Updated: 2026-09-25T20:54:56.000Z
Section: Regulation

> The interpretation covers protocol staking and some one-for-one wrapped tokens, but does not exempt every staking token from federal securities rules.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said certain staking receipt tokens can fall outside federal securities laws when they represent non-security crypto assets that are not subject to investment contracts and meet specified conditions.

The interpretation covers receipts issued through liquid-staking arrangements and states that the rewards come from the underlying protocol-staking activity, not from the receipt token itself. A receipt token representing a digital security, or an asset still tied to an investment contract, remains a security.

The SEC also addressed protocol staking activities conducted under the circumstances described in the interpretation. Separately, a wrapped token may fall outside securities laws when it is backed and redeemable one-for-one, offers no additional return, yield, profit opportunity or service, and is linked to an asset not subject to an investment contract.

The agency said a crypto asset previously sold under an investment contract may later separate from that contract if buyers no longer reasonably expect profits from the issuer’s essential managerial efforts. SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins called the move an effort to “draw clear lines in clear terms.”

The interpretation was issued March 17, 2026, with publication in the Federal Register on March 23. It does not establish a blanket exemption for all staking tokens.