#SEC加密资产证券披露指南 PoW Consensus Mechanism Asset Exemption from Securities Law Constraints

In a statement released by the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance in March 2025, it was clarified that mining activities of crypto assets based on the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism (such as Bitcoin) do not fall under the category of securities issuance. Rewards earned by miners for providing computational resources to maintain network security are regarded as service compensation rather than profits dependent on the efforts of others, thus they do not require registration under the Securities Act. This provides clear legal grounds for the compliance of PoW assets (such as LTC, DOGE).

PoS and Other Mechanism Assets Require Case-by-Case Evaluation

For crypto assets that rely on third-party management efforts, such as Proof of Stake (PoS) assets (like SOL, DOT), the SEC is continuously exploring their securities characteristics through the cryptocurrency working group. For instance, when the SEC discusses the feasibility of introducing staking functionalities in ETPs with Solana ecosystem staking service providers, it still requires a judgment based on the specific project's economic model to determine whether it meets the “Howey Test” criteria.