Many NFTs Are Not Securities, Says SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has publicly said that many NFTs don’t qualify as securities below the US legislation.

Talking on the SEC Speaks 2025 occasion in Washington, D.C., Peirce addressed ongoing issues in regards to the regulatory therapy of digital belongings, together with crypto tokens and NFTs.

Her remarks adopted a sequence of enforcement actions by the SEC which have raised questions on how NFTs ought to be categorized and whether or not they fall below present securities laws.

What did Hester Peirce say about NFTs?

Commissioner Peirce said that many NFTs don’t fall below the definition of a safety. Nonetheless, she clarified that some digital belongings—together with NFTs—might be handled as securities if they’re distributed as a part of an funding contract. In line with Peirce, this happens when patrons are led to count on earnings that rely on the actions of a central entity.

Peirce stated the SEC’s present strategy, which depends closely on enforcement quite than printed steering, has left many within the trade with out clear course. She stated that the authorized evaluation ought to contemplate how an asset is structured, marketed, and bought—not merely the asset sort itself.

She referenced the creation of a brand new Crypto Process Power, which is accumulating suggestions and dealing towards extra formal regulation. Peirce additionally renewed her name for a Secure Harbor framework geared toward giving crypto initiatives an outlined interval—comparable to three years—to develop and develop with out registering their tokens as securities. Throughout this time, initiatives can be required to satisfy fundamental disclosure and investor safety requirements.

The proposed framework is designed to use to digital asset issuers, permitting them time to achieve community maturity or decentralisation earlier than dealing with full regulatory obligations. The Secure Harbor proposal has not but been adopted by the SEC.

What does this imply for NFTs?

Peirce’s latest feedback spotlight the necessity for clearer regulatory definitions concerning NFTs and different digital belongings. While her view is that many NFTs should not securities, the SEC has not issued formal steering distinguishing which NFT-related actions might fall below securities legislation.

Within the absence of printed guidelines, NFT creators and platforms stay topic to interpretation and potential enforcement primarily based on how their belongings are bought and promoted.

Peirce stated that further readability might come by way of future SEC rulemaking or legislative motion.