According to Wu, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Corporation Finance has issued a statement clarifying that under specific structures, liquid staking and related staking receipt tokens generally do not involve the issuance and sale of securities as defined under Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 or Section 3(a)(10) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and therefore do not require registration or applicable exemptions. Such arrangements refer to users depositing crypto assets into a protocol or third-party service provider for staking, receiving equivalent receipts to prove ownership of the staked assets and their rewards. The receipts themselves do not generate returns; their value derives from the underlying staked assets rather than any third party's managerial or entrepreneurial efforts.