Today in crypto, the US SEC issued new guidance on liquid staking, spot Ether ETFs recorded their largest-ever daily outflow of $465 million, and President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to sign an order investigating claims of debanking.
US SEC says certain liquid staking activities fall outside of securities laws
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has clarified that certain cryptocurrency liquid staking activities do not constitute securities offerings, a notable step in the agency’s ongoing effort to provide clearer guidance on digital asset regulation.
“The statement clarifies the division’s view that, depending on the facts and circumstances, the liquid staking activities covered in the statement do not involve the offer and sale of securities,” the regulator said Tuesday, referring to key sections of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
In its Staff Statement, the SEC defined liquid staking as the process of staking digital assets through a protocol and receiving a “liquid staking receipt token,” which serves as evidence of the staker’s ownership.
“Today’s staff statement on liquid staking is a significant step forward in clarifying the staff’s view about crypto asset activities that do not fall within the SEC’s jurisdiction,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a statement.
BlackRock leads record $465 million spot Ether ETF Monday exodus
United States spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded almost half a billion dollars in daily net outflows on Monday, marking their highest in a single day since launch, according to data from investment firm Farside Investors.
Farside Investors’ data shows that spot Ether (ETH) ETFs had net outflows of $465 million on Monday, their second day of outflows since breaking a 20-day inflow streak on Friday with net outflows of $152 million.
The sharp pullback suggests a potential shift in investor sentiment after a strong performance in July, during which spot Ether ETFs saw a record $5.43 billion in net inflows.
This coincided with ETH dropping to $3,380 on Sunday, down 12% from its Thursday price of $3,858. On Tuesday, the token had recovered, rising to $3,629, according to CoinGecko.
SoSoValue data shows that asset manager BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) took the biggest hit on Monday, seeing nearly $375 million in net outflows. The ETF still has a cumulative net inflow of $9.3 billion and net assets of $10.7 billion.
Trump order would probe crypto debanking claims: WSJ
US President Donald Trump could sign an executive order as soon as this week to direct banking regulators to investigate claims of debanking made by the crypto sector and conservatives, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
A draft of the executive order seen by the Journal directed bank regulators to probe if any financial institutions violated antitrust, consumer financial protection or fair lending practice laws and to cut any agency policies that could have contributed to banks dropping customers such as crypto firms.
It also asked regulators to refer some of the potential violations for the Justice Department to follow up, with violators facing fines or legal action. Trump could reportedly sign the order this week, but that could be delayed or changed.
Crypto industry executives have long alleged that the Biden administration used regulators to cut their industry off from banks after crypto exchange FTX was found to be a fraud scheme and collapsed in 2022.
Court documents revealed in December that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation asked some banks to pause crypto-related activities in 2022, which Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal said at the time showed the industry’s claims weren’t “some crypto conspiracy theory.”