The SEC clarified that liquid staking receipt tokens are not securities, easing regulatory concerns for platforms like Lido.
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Posted August 6, 2025 at 9:46 am EST.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a staff statement clarifying that certain liquid staking activities do not constitute the offer or sale of securities under federal law.
The securities regulator emphasized that liquid staking refers to participants depositing crypto assets with a third-party provider, which issues receipt tokens evidencing ownership of the staked assets.
The SEC clarified that these receipt tokens themselves are not considered securities because providers act as agents, do not undertake managerial or entrepreneurial efforts, and merely facilitate staking on behalf of depositors.
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Essentially, this exempts liquid staking providers like Lido, which accounts for $31.8 billion in onchain deposits, from registering with the SEC in relation to these activities.
Total value locked across all liquid staking protocols currently sits at $66.8 billion.
Meanwhile, former SEC official Amanda Fischer compared liquid staking to Lehman Brothers-era risk-taking, sparking backlash from crypto leaders who defended the transparency of decentralized protocols.
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