The US SEC clarifies that three types of Staking activities do not constitute securities issuance and sales.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Corporate Finance Department issued a statement on May 29, saying, “Staking activity” in a PoS network does not involve Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Issuance and sale of securities within the meaning of Article 3(a)(10). Persons and entities involved in such activities are not required to register with the SEC for such transactions, and registration exemptions are not required to apply. The statement covers three types of protocol pledges: (1) “self-pledge” by node operators to pledge their own crypto assets; (2) “self-custody pledge” by asset holders through third-party node operators; and (3) a “custody arrangement” in which the custodian institution lends and pledges crypto assets on behalf of the customer. The statement document emphasizes that “staking rewards are rewards for services provided by the PoS network to validators under its underlying protocol, and not profits derived from the entrepreneurial or management efforts of others.”