SEC Warns Crypto Vaults May Be Securities

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce warned that crypto vaults and on-chain lending strategies may fall under existing federal securities laws depending on their structure, with the Howey test guiding whether they are securities. She stressed that regulators will assess each product case-by-case, that moving activities onchain does not automatically remove them from regulation, and urged developers and participants to engage with the agency rather than assume blockchain design exempts them.