Author: Sam Bourgi
Compiled by: DeepWave TechFlow
DeepInsight summary: SEC Chair Paul Atkins further explained in a CNBC interview why NFTs typically do not constitute securities. The SEC recently released an interpretive document listing four categories of digital assets that are not securities: digital commodities, digital tools, digital collectibles (including NFTs), and stablecoins.
Atkins compared NFTs to baseball cards, emphasizing that these assets are "bought to hold" and do not constitute investment contracts. This is the latest move by the SEC under Atkins’s leadership to shift from an enforcement-driven approach to a guidance-driven one.
The full text is as follows:
After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) listed four categories of digital assets that do not fall under securities laws, Chairman Paul Atkins further explained why non-fungible tokens (NFTs) typically do not meet the definition of a security.
During an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Atkins reiterated the four categories of digital assets typically not considered securities, as outlined in the SEC’s recent interpretive guidance: digital commodities, digital tools, digital collectibles such as NFTs, and stablecoins.
During the interview, host Andrew Ross Sorkin pressed on the issue of digital collectibles, noting that depending on their structural design, they may be more easily classified as securities.
Atkins responded: "That's true of everything." He emphasized that the SEC's analysis still depends on the specific facts and circumstances of each asset, particularly whether it involves an investment contract under long-standing legal precedent.
Atkins stated that digital collectibles are typically viewed as items held for possession, similar to physical collectibles, rather than investment contracts. Investment contracts are a core defining characteristic of securities.
He said: "These collectibles—like baseball cards, memes, memecoins, and NFTs—are things that someone bought. It's an immutable purchase... unlike other assets that people trade."
Caption: Paul Atkins being interviewed by CNBC. Source: CNBC
The SEC continues to move away from an enforcement-driven crypto policy
Under Atkins' leadership, the SEC's approach to regulating digital assets has undergone a noticeable shift, aligning with the more crypto-friendly Trump administration that took office in early 2025.
Atkins said in a CNBC interview: "We are breaking away from the past." He described the SEC's efforts to promote clearer guidance and a more predictable regulatory framework.
Last year, Atkins criticized the SEC’s previous reliance on “regulation by enforcement” and pledged to move away from this approach. He also noted that tokenization is a key innovation that regulators should support, not restrict.
Since then, he has repeatedly stated that past regulatory missteps have caused the United States to fall behind by as much as a decade in cryptocurrency development, and he has vowed to reverse this situation.