SEC Chair Explains Why NFTs Are Not Securities: “It’s Like Buying a Sports Card”

Author: Sam Bourgi

Translated and edited by: TechFlow

TechFlow Insight: In a CNBC interview, SEC Chair Paul Atkins further explained why NFTs generally do not constitute securities. The SEC recently released an interpretive guidance document listing four categories of digital assets that typically fall outside the definition of securities: digital commodities, digital utilities, digital collectibles (including NFTs), and stablecoins.

Atkins likened NFTs to baseball cards, emphasizing that such assets are “buy-and-hold” items and do not involve investment contracts. This marks the latest move under Atkins’ leadership toward shifting the SEC’s approach from “enforcement-driven” to “guidance-driven.”

Full text below:

Following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) identification of four broad categories of digital assets that generally fall outside the scope of securities law, Chair Paul Atkins elaborated on why non-fungible tokens (NFTs) typically fail to meet the legal definition of a security.

In a Wednesday interview with CNBC, Atkins reaffirmed the four categories of digital assets—outlined in the SEC’s recent interpretive guidance—that are generally not considered securities: digital commodities, digital utilities, digital collectibles (including NFTs), and stablecoins.

During the interview, host Andrew Ross Sorkin raised questions about digital collectibles, noting that depending on their structural design, they could more easily be classified as securities.

Atkins responded, “That’s true of anything.” He stressed that the SEC’s analysis remains grounded in the specific facts and circumstances surrounding each asset—particularly whether it constitutes an investment contract under longstanding legal precedent.

Atkins stated that digital collectibles are generally viewed as buy-and-hold items, akin to physical collectibles, rather than investment contracts—the defining characteristic of a security.

He said: “These collectibles—baseball cards, memes, memecoins, NFTs—are things people buy. It’s an immutable purchase… unlike other assets that people trade.”

Caption: Paul Atkins in his CNBC interview. Source: CNBC

The SEC Continues Moving Away from an “Enforcement-Driven” Crypto Policy

Under Atkins’ leadership, the SEC’s regulatory approach toward digital assets has undergone a clear shift—a development aligned with the crypto-friendly Trump administration that took office in early 2025.

In the CNBC interview, Atkins said: “We’re breaking with the past.” He described the SEC’s efforts to deliver clearer guidance and establish a more predictable regulatory framework.

Last year, Atkins criticized the SEC’s prior reliance on “regulation by enforcement” and pledged to move away from that approach. He also highlighted tokenization as a key innovation that regulators should support—not restrict.

Since then, he has repeatedly stated that past regulatory missteps have left the U.S. up to ten years behind in crypto development—and vowed to reverse that trend.