Welcome to the 3x/weekly CEO Note for PRO readers of the 51 Insights digital asset newsletter.
Crypto wanted a law. It got nine answers.
What happened: On Thursday the SEC's staff answered nine questions about crypto tokens. Two drew the headlines. A token buyback on a working network is not a promise of profits. And a liquid staking token, the tradable receipt you get when you stake crypto, can count as a commodity.
The timing matters. The Senate killed the Clarity Act, the bill meant to settle all of this in law, ten days earlier. And Hester Peirce, who ran the SEC's crypto work, leaves on October 2.
A token isn't a security by itself. The promise sold with it can be, as in "buy now, we'll build the network."
Once the team keeps that promise, the token is just a token.
On Thursday SEC staff said what a team can do after that point: keep building, market what works today, and buy back the token.
Liquid staking tokens now have a legal category, and some count as commodities.
None of this is law. It's staff guidance, and a future SEC can take it back.
