A declaration of the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) American on the liquid Staking has, as expected, divided the Crypto ecosystem. Some see it as a positive signal that can promote institutional and general public adoption, while others point to major risks, uncertainties and legal obstacles.
In short
- SEC staff say that liquid storage assets are not securities, but the shortcomings have been maintained with regulatory uncertainty in the crypto space.
- Commissioner Crenshaw warns that the orientation is incomplete, non -binding and that it does not offer a real safety net in terms of compliance.
- Industry leaders highlight the risks linked to RESTEUROGE, Stoking Cross-Chain and synthetic tokens, for lack of clear regulation.
- The tax rules on stoking rewards remain vague, while legal affairs and advocacy efforts aim to obtain more equitable policies.
Directives that leave skeptical
According to this position, liquid stoking and the assets linked to it are not considered as securities within the meaning of the agency's regulations. But this non -binding clarification has aroused contrasting reactions, highlighting the gray area surrounding one of the most popular segments of decentralized finance.
The SEC commissioner, Caroline Crenshaw, strongly criticized this text, believing that it does not reflect the real complexity of the regulatory framework.
But, unfortunately, as for the other recent Howey declarations of the division, the conclusions formulated here are vague generalizations which cannot be easily applied to the real world services.
Crenshaw
Crenshaw also pointed out two major shortcomings in the DEC personnel guidelines : on the one hand, the controversial claims linked to the operational framework of liquid storage; On the other hand, too conditional legal conclusions, making the guide unreliable in matters of regulatory compliance.
Crenshaw explained that any stoking activity that does not correspond to the conditions of the directives would be excluded from its definition. Thus, the head of the dry maintained that Staff statements Do not provide the necessary safety net or the complete supervision of stuking activities.
She also specified that this orientation does not represent the official position of the dry, but only the personal point of view of a member of her staff. Therefore, she invited the public to consider this guide as a simple precautionary measure, not as an official regulatory document.
The head of institutional staking at Marinade has abounded in this direction, affirming that these “directives are not a law” and remain subject to debate. He also urged the entire sector to work together in order to achieve positive regulatory results.
Regulatory uncertainty hovers on liquid storage models
Unlike traditional storage, liquid storage allows users to keep the use of their funds while receiving rewards. Concretely, when they put tokens in stuking, they receive in exchange a so -called “synthetic” version of these assets, which they can reuse for other operations generating advantages.
However, platforms offering liquid storage apply various technical and operational approaches. As Caroline Crenshaw pointed out, the guidelines formulated by the SEC staff do not necessarily cover all these models.
The legal director of Lido Labs, Sam Kim, also noted the existence of regulatory shadow areas concerning several key areas, such as “Restoking”, “Staking Cross-Chain” or other financial products based on Staking. According to him, these aspects will require additional clarifications from the authorities.
For his part, Michael Hubbard, Director of Strategy at Sol Strategies, believes that the Staking networks which are limited to simple administrative tasks, such as the emission of tokens of receipt for one, without promise of yield, can enter into the current rules. However, he warns that these orientations remain strict and that any deviation from this framework could modify the regulatory collection of these activities.
Stoking awards, tax ambiguity and risks linked to liquid stoking
Beyond regulatory uncertainties, the DECIAL Declaration of the SEC does not provide a clear response to the taxation applicable to the awards from stuking.
Here are the main points of attention on this subject:
- Uncertainty at the time of taxation: it is not clearly established if stuking rewards must be taxed upon receipt or only during their sale.
- Current legal proceedings: Several cases are currently examined by the courts on this specific issue.
- Political advocacy: groups representing industry campaign with the congress to obtain more equitable tax rules, in order to promote the growth of the sector.
- Obstacle linked to trusts: current taxation on trusts creates difficulties in integrating Stuking into listed funds (ETF).
In addition, the former DRI chief of staff, Amanda Fischer, compared Liquid Staking to certain risky financial arrangements that precipitated the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
On X (formerly Twitter), Fischer warned against the risk of a major financial shock If this mechanism is not properly supervised. She said that offering a synthetic version of an asset is like reproducing the practices of Lehman Brothers, which reused customer investments to supply high -risk operations.
According to her, liquid stoking could represent a similar threat to market stability if it escapes strict regulations. She also insisted on the risks linked to dependence on tokens issuers, citing in particular possible delays in their broadcast, vulnerability in the face of hacks and other technical problems likely to affect the Crypto market as a whole. Finally, in a recent report, the dry itself expressed concerns about liquid stoking, highlighting the legal risks associated with it.
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