OpenSea urges clarity on NFT regulation with a letter to the US SEC

OpenSea presents a letter to the Crypto Task Force of the US SEC to urge clarity on NFT regulation. The renowned marketplace asks to eliminate the existing confusion in the Non-Fungible Token sector

OpenSea: a letter to request clarity on NFT regulation

OpenSea is fighting to bring clarity to NFT regulation in the USA. The well-known marketplace has submitted a letter to the Crypto Task Force of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the USA, where it asks to eliminate the existing confusion in the NFT sector.

First and foremost, OpenSea informs the regulators that NFT marketplaces cannot be classified as either exchanges or securities brokers, under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act)

On this topic, the lawyers of the marketplace Adele Faure and Laura Brookover, provide a series of regulated definitions that prove this statement

Furthermore, given the decentralization of the blockchain on which NFT buying and selling transactions occur, OpenSea states that it is not even the central authority that accepts or executes the payments

In this regard, OpenSea describes itself in this way:

“OpenSea acts as an online marketplace that allows discovering NFTs and connecting with buyers and sellers. However, the actual transfer of value and assets is carried out on the blockchain through publicly available smart contracts.”

OpenSea and the regulation on NFTs: the recommendations of the marketplace

In the last chapter of the letter, then, OpenSea releases two of its recommendations to support the Crypto Task Force of the SEC in its work with digital assets

This is a real encouragement to the Commission to eliminate the ongoing regulatory uncertainty that prevails in the NFT sector, and to protect the ability of US tech companies to be leaders in this sector

To succeed in this dual objective, the lawyers of OpenSea propose first and foremost that the SEC clearly declare that NFT marketplaces like OpenSea cannot be classified as exchanges and brokers under federal securities laws

And then, the second proposal requires that the SEC clarify the following:

the marketplace aggregates and presents information on NFTs through a website, an app, or another interface. It does not intervene with evaluations, solicitations, or investment advice.

the marketplace facilitates the purchase and sale offers of NFT between users and transmits the instructions for the transactions to the blockchains without executing, controlling, holding, or directing the use of users’ digital assets.

In this sense, for the two lawyers of OpenSea, the NFT marketplaces are just exploration tools

The closure of the previous investigations

This move by OpenSea comes after last February 2025, it emerged that the US SEC had decided to close the investigation into the famous marketplace.

The previous US administration had issued a Wells notice against OpenSea last August 2024, indicating the intention to initiate legal action

With the decision of the current administration to close the previous investigation, it seems that the approach to the NFT sector is softer, led by the pro-crypto President Trump.

However, with the current letter, OpenSea refers to what could be new regulatory guidelines on the topic of NFT marketplaces in the USA