How to Stake Crypto Safely and Legally in 2025
Key takeaways
-
The SEC has clarified that solo staking, delegated staking and custodial staking, when tied directly to a network’s consensus process, do not qualify as securities offerings.
-
Post May 29 guideline, rewards earned from network validation are seen as compensation for services, not profits from the efforts of others, removing them from the Howey test classification.
-
Validators, node operators and retail or institutional stakers can now participate without fear of regulatory uncertainty, encouraging wider adoption of PoS networks.
-
Yield farming, ROI-guaranteed DeFi bundles and staking-disguised lending schemes remain outside legal bounds and may be treated as securities offerings.
On May 29, 2025, the US Securities and Exchange…
