Online reported that the Corporate Finance Department of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement on May 29 stating that "equity pledge activities" in the PoS network do not involve the issuance and sale of securities within the meaning of Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Individuals and entities involved in such activities are not required to register with the SEC for such transactions and are not required to apply registration exemptions. The statement covers three types of agreement pledge: (1)"self-pledge" by node operators to pledge their own encryption assets;(2)"self-custody pledge" by asset holders through third-party node operators;(3)"Custody arrangements" in which a custodian institution lends and pledges encryption assets on behalf of customers. The statement document emphasized that "equity pledge rewards are the service rewards provided by the PoS network to verifiers according to its underlying agreements, rather than profits derived from others 'entrepreneurial or management efforts."