SEC Chair Paul Atkins Says NFTs Usually Aren't Securities, Likens Them to Baseball Cards

Author: Sam Bourgi Compiled by: DeepWave TechFlow DeepInsight summary: SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a CNBC interview that nonfungible tokens (NFTs) generally do not qualify as securities. The SEC recently issued interpretive guidance identifying four types of digital assets that typically fall outside securities laws: digital commodities, digital tools, digital collectibles (including NFTs), and stablecoins. Atkins compared NFTs to baseball cards, arguing these are largely "bought to hold" and usually do not involve investment contracts. The guidance reflects the SEC's latest push under Atkins to move from enforcement-first regulation toward clearer, guidance-led oversight. After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission outlined four categories of digital assets it generally does not treat as securities, Chair Paul Atkins expanded on the agency's thinking around NFTs in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. Atkins reiterated the four groups named in the SEC's interpretive document: digital commodities, digital tools, digital collectibles such as NFTs, and stablecoins. CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin challenged the "digital collectibles" category, noting that certain structures could make them easier to characterize as securities. Atkins replied that the same caveat applies broadly and stressed that the SEC's analysis remains fact-specific, turning largely on whether an asset arrangement constitutes an investment contract under long-standing legal precedent. In most cases, he said, digital collectibles are closer to traditional items purchased for ownership and holding, not investment contracts—a central hallmark of securities. "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," Atkins said. Caption: Paul Atkins being interviewed by CNBC. Source: CNBC SEC signals further shift away from enforcement-driven crypto policy Under Atkins, the SEC's posture on digital-asset regulation has visibly changed, tracking with the more crypto-friendly Trump administration that took office in early 2025. "We are breaking away from the past," Atkins said, describing an effort to provide clearer guidance and a more predictable regulatory framework. Atkins has previously criticized what he called the SEC's reliance on "regulation by enforcement" and said the agency should move away from that approach. He has also argued that tokenization is a major innovation regulators should support rather than constrain. In recent remarks, he said earlier policy missteps set the United States back by as much as a decade in crypto development and pledged to help reverse that gap.