Crypto Mom Hester Peirce: The jurisdiction of securities law over Crypto Assets needs to be clarified! Stablecoins, meme coins, and NFTs are not securities.

Crypto mom Hester Peirce spoke directly about staking in a recent SEC Speaks speech, and she expressed support for issuing further guidance to clarify which activities are exempt from securities laws, such as direct participation in proof-of-stake and delegated proof-of-stake systems, and technical services to assist people in participating in these consensus mechanisms. (Synopsis: Crypto mom criticizes SEC regulation: US companies like playing the "floor is magma" game, should build bridges for the industry) (Background added: Crypto mom Hester Peirce: Most memes such as TRUMP may not be under SEC jurisdiction) Figment, a blockchain infrastructure and service provider focused on providing digital asset staking (Staking) solutions to institutional customers Figment, said in an article yesterday (23), Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and head of the U.S. Cryptocurrency Task Force, addressed the issue of staking directly in a recent SEC Speaks speech, Figment said that this is the first time a senior SEC official has explicitly stated that technical participation in proof-of-stake (PoS) and delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) systems are not necessarily regulated by securities laws: This moment is significant: it opens the way for U.S. institutions to participate in staking. There is no need to worry about enforcement actions, in line with the industry's call for clear rules. Highlights of Hester Peirce's Speech In this speech, Hester Peirce's core point was to support providing clear guidance to crypto companies to provide clarity on the jurisdiction of cryptocurrencies under U.S. securities law, and she directly mentioned: I support the issuance of further guidance to clarify what activities are exempt from securities laws, such as direct participation in proof-of-stake and delegated proof-of-stake systems, and technical services to assist people in participating in these consensus mechanisms. Other highlights include: Acknowledging that most crypto assets are not securities under U.S. securities laws. These assets do not promise to generate value through voting or the economic rights of centralized entities. Acknowledging that the SEC's past practices have failed to provide clarity to compliance actors and have failed to deter bad actors. Shift from punitive enforcement to constructive guidance. Meme coins do not meet the definition of a security under current law due to their lack of economic rights. The Cryptocurrency Task Force is pushing for more guidance, rulemaking, and safe harbor provisions. What is the significance for the United States? Figment pointed out that the position revealed by the speech is of great significance to the United States: technical participation in DPoS (Solana) and PoS (Ethereum) pledges is outside the scope of securities law. This provides long-awaited clarity for U.S. institutions to ensure that their participation in pledges does not violate securities laws. Shift from enforcement regulation to clear guidelines. Acknowledging that past enforcement practices have failed to prevent fraud and have only created confusion for compliance operators. This is the policy shift we expect from the SEC. The forward-looking framework includes a safe harbor for early-stage assets, a registration path tailored to token projects, and clearer rules for secondary market activity. In particular, the proposed conditional safe harbor would allow the new network to be launched and mature under clear disclosure and investor protection standards. We believe this provides a pathway for new projects to enter the market in a compliant manner, expanding the range and quality of networks we can support. Hester Peirce Thank you and welcome to SEC Speaks. Before I begin, I would like to remind you that my views represent only those of me as Commissioner and do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission or other Commissioners. Exactly one month ago, April 19, 2025, was the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution. At the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Samuel Whittemore, a farmer in his 80s, hid behind a stone wall, killed three British soldiers, and then, as the monument records, "was shot, bayoneted, beaten and presumed dead." Miraculously, he lived for nearly another twenty years. The Whitmore family kept a broken-handled teacup until my uncle donated it to the Historical Society. The teacup is a symbol of Whitmore's burial in the backyard to protest the deeply disgusted Tea Tax Act. This small act of defiance, foreshadowing his larger rebellion, laid the foundation for a nation that uniquely valued human freedom, celebrated the spirit of independence, and welcomed dissenting voices. My voice has been one of those dissenting voices for the past few years. Many of my objections have to do with the Commission's approach to regulating cryptocurrency assets: a new class of digitally native assets and "on-chain" versions of currencies, commodities, collectibles, and securities backed by a shared database architecture. Emerging from a period of cryptocurrency dissent, I am pleased to be able to present to you today as the head of the Committee's Cryptocurrency Task Force a rational and coherent path forward, as well as a new paradigm for the SEC. I suspect that some of the audience present are not particularly interested in cryptocurrencies. The scope of the SEC's mandate is broad, as evidenced by the many topics on the SEC Speaks agenda. We have important work to do in areas such as expanding access to capital, revitalizing open markets, refocusing disclosure on the basis of importance, promoting greater American participation in capital markets, prudently enforcing rules such as treasury clearing, simplifying and modernizing the Commission's vast rulebook, rethinking comprehensive audit trails and gag rules, promoting innovation and competition in asset management, allowing the use of modern means of communication, and ensuring continued market resilience. Cryptocurrency is not the most important topic on the committee, but it is important, even to those who consider anything labeled "crypto" worthless or worse. First, the SEC's approach to cryptocurrencies in recent years has circumvented sound regulatory practices that must be corrected. The Commission relies on enforcement actions to tell people how it sees the applicability of securities laws to cryptocurrencies as an alternative to notice and comment rulemaking. It provides little useful guidance on how securities laws apply to cryptocurrency facts and scenarios. Second, while cryptocurrencies have so far mostly been outside of traditional financial markets, change is coming quickly, as traditional financial intermediaries are developing and participating in cryptocurrency assets, while market participants are experimenting with tokenization of traditional securities. Finally, providing cryptocurrency clarity will allow the committee to focus on many other matters on its agenda. The Task Force, established by Acting Chair Uyeda at the beginning of his term and continued by Chair Atkins, has been in operation for about four months now. During this time, we have held four roundtables and plan to hold another next month, receiving over a hundred written comments that responded to an extensive call for comments and conducted over a hundred sessions with industry participants and other members of the public with different perspectives. Employees from various departments of the Commission have issued new cryptocurrency guidelines, including on cryptocurrency mining and broker-dealer custody of clients' cryptocurrency assets. I support the issuance of further guidance to clarify what activities are not subject to securities laws, such as direct participation in proof-of-stake and delegated proof-of-stake systems, and technical services to assist people in participating in these consensus mechanisms. Employees also withdrew guidance that hindered regulated entities from participating in cryptocurrency assets. In addition, the task force, along with employees from various parts of the committee, provided technical assistance in Congress' efforts to enact cryptocurrency legislation and worked with other agencies to implement the President's directive on cryptocurrencies. ...