🇺🇸 SEC warns about regulation of crypto vaults and on-chain lending
US SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce stated that cryptocurrency vaults and on-chain lending strategies may fall under US securities laws. This depends on how such products are structured and who makes decisions regarding asset management.
According to Peirce, the use of smart contracts alone does not exempt a product from US law. If users expect to earn returns based on the actions of developers or managers, such products may be evaluated under the same principles as traditional investment instruments.
Peirce encouraged market participants to discuss the structure of such products and regulatory changes that would allow their development without violating the law.
In DeFi, vaults refer to smart contracts that accept user deposits and automatically allocate them across yield-generating strategies through staking, lending, or liquidity provision. One of the pioneers of such strategies was Yearn Finance.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Headstands and Summervaults: A Statement on Crypto Vaults and Lending Strategies
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce
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2July 25, 2026 1.5K
