Crypto staking, under certain circumstances, does not appear to implicate U.S. securities law, a branch of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said late Thursday.

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance published a staff statement — the latest in a series from the regulator — spelling out how the regulator may evaluate proof-of-stake networks, mainly noting that covered activities do not «involve the offer and sale of securities» — meaning the SEC won’t sue any person or company participating in those activities.

Node operators and validators, custodians, delegates, nominators and entities staking assets either on their own, staking directly with a third party or staking on behalf of an asset’s owners fall into this bucket, the staff statement said. In this, the SEC seems to suggest that staking will be treated identically to mining, the consensus mechanism securing networks like Bitcoin BTC, which the SEC clarified also did not implicate securities laws in a similar staff statement last month.

The SEC’s staff statement was «very clear for a subject that can be a little bit complicated,» said Lorien Gabel, the CEO of staking-focused crypto firm Figment. And its main upside appears to be saying that various activities U.S. companies might have shied away from in the past are okay now.

«They included some ancillary staking activities. For example, we provide insurance around slashing [and we also provide] modified unbonding periods,» he said. «And they said that actually doesn’t mean that you’re a manager of assets as a staking provider.»

The SEC statement said companies that want to provide those types of services, or even pooled staking, can do so, he said.

Thursday’s statement is an incremental but important update from the regulator, said Alison Mangiero, the head of staking policy at the Crypto Council for Innovation.

«This reaffirms that there’s going to be similar treatment for stakers that there is for miners. And I think it’s especially important because, given under [former SEC Chair Gary] Gensler, there were so many enforcement actions that were focused on staking as a service … we saw a lot of those cases dismissed, and the Coinbase case dismissed with prejudice,» she said. «We assumed that this would be the stance, but actually having a staff statement that asserts it, I think is crucially important.»

The fact it came just days before the SEC faces a deadline on a number of applications to bring staking into spot ether ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is telling, she said.

It’s likely that the ETF providers would have received staking approvals regardless, but the SEC statement will likely start speeding up the process for securing those approvals, Gabel said.

As with the SEC’s previous staff statements, Thursday’s included a footnote clarifying that it is very narrowly tailored and certain restrictions would apply. It is not a replacement for rulemaking done through the actual commissioners and «has no legal force or effect,» the footnote said.

«This statement only addresses certain activities involving Covered Crypto Assets that do not have intrinsic economic properties or rights, such as generating a passive yield or conveying rights to future income, profits, or assets of a business enterprise,» another footnote said.

Fastex, a Dubai-based crypto exchange, is expanding its presence in the U.S., building out an office in Los Angeles, California.

According to a Thursday announcement, Fastex will offer spot crypto trading services of tokens including bitcoin BTC, ether ETH, Cardano ADA, Solana SOL and its native utility token, Fasttoken FTN, to both retail and institutional investors in the U.S.

Fastex’s American expansion comes as the U.S. continues to overhaul its approach to crypto regulation under President Donald Trump’s administration. Since Trump took office in January, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has retreated from the so-called regulation-by-enforcement approach to crypto it took under former Chair Gary Gensler, dropping a host of open investigations and closing ongoing litigation against crypto exchanges.

In an interview with CoinDesk at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas, Fastex’s Chief Legal Officer and board member Vardan Khachatryan said that the SEC’s softened stance toward crypto regulation played a major role in the exchange’s decision to expand in the U.S., though he acknowledged that there is still no concrete legal framework for crypto in the country.

“There has been enough of a policy change, at least in terms of [how the U.S. government is] viewing things, that allowed us to go for this,” Khachatryan said. “It’s still kind of a risk, but it’s a lower risk.”

With a host of crypto companies returning to the U.S. due to the Trump Administration’s crypto-friendly policies, cities like New York are hoping to attract companies expanding to the U.S. to set up shop in their jurisdictions.

But, while Khachatryan said New York would be “the right place to be in terms of headquarters,” he said that, for now, the prospect of obtaining a BitLicense — the notoriously difficult-to-obtain crypto license issued by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) — is prohibitive.

“I hope that things will change a bit,” Khachatryan said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has branded himself the “Bitcoin Mayor” in an attempt to lure crypto companies to New York, called for the end to the BitLicense regime during a speech at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Read more: NYC Mayor Eric Adams Calls for End of the NYDFS BitLicense, Proposes BitBond

Fastex is currently headquartered in Dubai, in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Khachatryan said the exchange is currently working on obtaining a license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).

After expanding in the U.S., Khachatryan said the exchange also has its eyes on a Latin American expansion, starting with Brazil, followed by Argentina and Mexico.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Strategy (MSTR) Chair Michael Saylor waxed poetic about bitcoin in a keynote speech at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on Thursday, laying out his guiding principles — his so-called “21 ways to wealth” — for a jam-packed audience of fans and conference-goers.

“Satoshi started a fire in cyberspace, and while the fearful run from it and fools dance around it, the faithful feed the flame, dreaming of a better world, and bathe in the warm glow of cyberlight,” Saylor said. “What does that mean? It means that a lot of people that look at Bitcoin are going to be afraid of it. They’ll never touch it. They’ll never benefit from it. They’ll be left behind. Then others will just juggle it. They will juggle the fire. They will make fireworks with the fire. They will create trinkets with the fire. They will create magic tricks with the fire. But those that truly understand it will feed the fire. How do you feed the fire? You feed the fire by buying Bitcoin. “

Saylor — who has taken on a near-mythic status in the bitcoin community for his leadership of Strategy, a publicly-traded technology company-turned-bitcoin treasury company, which holds approximately 3% of the total bitcoin supply — said that people should trade their other, inferior assets for bitcoin.

“Take your fiat currency, trade it for bitcoin. Take your long term capital, trade it for bitcoin. Sell your bonds, trade [them] for Bitcoin. Sell your inferior equity, sell your inferior real estate property, buy bitcoin,” Saylor said. “Feed the fire, and what will come of that? An extraordinary explosion in the network and [in] the power of the network, and you will have bought your ticket to prosperity.”

Thus was Saylor’s third way to wealth — courage — which he said meant that wealth “favors those who embrace intelligent monetary risk.”

Bitcoin, like other assets, rises in price if more people buy it, though Saylor did not mention this effect during his speech.

In addition to courage, Saylor advised the audience to have conviction in bitcoin’s potential, to stay committed to one cause, to cooperate with their families and children, to embrace artificial intelligence, to consider civility when engaging with the “natural power structures of the world,” and to remember to be generous.

“When you are successful — and you will be successful — get up every morning and spread happiness, share security, and deliver hope to those less fortunate than you,” Saylor said. “You found the path first, you found the way first. You should spread good karma.”