OpenSea Urges SEC To Exempt NFT Marketplaces From Securities Regulations

Main non-fungible token (NFT) market OpenSea has referred to as on the U.S. Securities and Change Fee (SEC) to formally exempt NFT platforms from federal securities rules.

In a letter dated April 9, OpenSea’s common counsel Adele Faure and deputy common counsel Laura Brookover appealed to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who heads the company’s Crypto Activity Pressure.

Faure and Brookover urged the SEC to make it clear that NFT marketplaces like OpenSea don’t fall underneath the definition of an “alternate” as outlined in U.S. securities regulation.

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OpenSea: NFT Platforms Aren’t Exchanges Beneath Securities Legislation

OpenSea’s common counsel argued that platforms facilitating NFT trades don’t execute transactions, act as intermediaries, or deliver collectively a number of patrons and sellers for a similar monetary instrument.

“The Fee’s previous enforcement actions have created authorized uncertainty,” the letter acknowledged. “We urge the Fee to take away this uncertainty and shield the flexibility of U.S. know-how corporations to guide innovation within the digital asset house.”

The request follows current strikes by the SEC to make clear its stance on different digital belongings. On April 4, the SEC introduced that sure stablecoins can be labeled as “non-securities,” exempting them from transaction reporting necessities.

Equally, a February employees assertion from the SEC’s Division of Company Finance declared that meme cash are usually not thought of securities however moderately digital collectibles.

At this time, OpenSea submitted a letter to the SEC Crypto Activity Pressure detailing why NFT marketplaces like OpenSea aren’t exchanges or brokers underneath federal securities regulation. We additionally referred to as for clear steerage to remove market uncertainty and assist the expansion of the NFT ecosystem.…

— Laura Brookover (@laurabrooksie1) April 9, 2025

Faure and Brookover consider the Crypto Activity Pressure ought to observe go well with with NFTs, arguing that OpenSea and comparable platforms shouldn’t be topic to dealer registration.

They emphasised that NFT marketplaces don’t supply funding recommendation, maintain person belongings, or perform monetary transactions on customers’ behalf.

“We ask the SEC to publish casual steerage to resolve confusion round NFTs,” they wrote. “In the long run, we urge the Fee to supply exemptions for NFT marketplaces from proposed dealer rules.”

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SEC Eases Crypto Stance Beneath Trump

The request comes because the SEC, underneath the Trump administration, step by step strikes away from the extra aggressive regulatory posture adopted underneath former Chair Gary Gensler.

In current months, the company has dropped a number of enforcement actions towards crypto companies, together with an earlier probe into OpenSea itself.

The change in method coincides with a main shift in management. Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who had spearheaded an aggressive regulatory crackdown on the crypto business, resigned. 

Throughout his tenure, which started in 2021, the SEC launched greater than 100 enforcement actions towards crypto companies.

Gensler’s departure occurred on the identical day that Donald Trump, who has signaled a extra crypto-friendly stance, started his second time period as U.S. president. Trump had beforehand vowed to fireside Gensler if elected, a promise that seems to have performed a task within the SEC’s shifting regulatory tone.

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