On July 22, 2026, Commissioner Hester M. Peirce said that recent work by the Commission, the Crypto Task Force, and staff across its Divisions had provided greater clarity about when crypto assets or activities are subject to the federal securities laws. She emphasized that the laws do not apply to every crypto asset or activity, but that this does not mean they apply to none. Activities within the securities perimeter should instead be assessed for a compliant path forward.
Peirce said that moving activities onchain generally does not remove them from the laws administered by the Commission. She previously described the principle in a July 9, 2025 statement on tokenized securities, writing that “Tokenized securities are still securities.” She applied the same principle to crypto vaults, which have attracted attention as a way for holders of crypto assets to generate yield. Vaults use smart contracts to deploy user assets into yield-generating activities, including staking and lending.
Fact-Specific Questions
Vaults vary from programmatic allocations determined solely by immutable smart contracts to allocations made at the sole discretion of another person or group. Their features and strategies are evolving, and the term does not have a specific, widely understood definition. Peirce said parties involved in selecting yield-generating activities, reallocating assets, or selecting decision-makers may want to analyze whether their activities implicate the federal securities laws.
Crypto lending strategies allow participants to deposit assets into onchain systems that lend them to borrowers for a fee. Parties involved in setting interest rates, deciding which assets to accommodate, establishing loan-to-value limits, or setting liquidation thresholds may also need to assess the laws’ application. Depending on their design, vaults and lending strategies could raise several legal issues. A vault could be a common enterprise in which users expect profits from the entrepreneurial or managerial efforts of a deployer or curator. A vault holding securities or allocating assets to investments in securities could also raise investment company questions, while some structures may resemble unit investment trusts, management investment companies, or separately managed accounts.
Peirce said onchain loans may, depending on the parties’ motivations, the plan of distribution, and other relevant factors, bear the hallmarks of notes that are securities. Management of vaults and lending strategies may also raise investment adviser issues. She stressed that the analysis will depend on the specific facts and circumstances, while also noting that the SEC must respect the limits Congress placed on its jurisdiction and protect developers’ free speech rights. The Commission welcomes inquiries from market participants designing or operating vaults or facilitating onchain lending. Peirce also invited views on whether rules should be modified to accommodate these technologies while protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation.