Clearer regulatory guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has injected fresh momentum into Ethereum’s staking ecosystem, driving ETH above $4,000 for the first time since December and fueling sharp gains across related tokens.

The SEC’s confirmation that liquid staking mechanisms do not constitute securities has triggered a broad rally across staking and layer-2 assets. Ethereum’s native token, ETH, led the charge, climbing past the $4K mark on Friday amid renewed market confidence.

Layer-2 networks have also seen strong tailwinds. Optimism’s OP token advanced 8% over the past 24 hours, bringing its weekly gains to 13%. Blast, a competing L2 platform, posted a 6.3% gain over the same period.

Leading the layer-2 rally, Mantle’s MNT token surged an impressive 50% over the past week, buoyed by growing demand for its optimistic rollup-based transaction model that offers cheaper and faster settlement on Ethereum.

Staking-related tokens have also outperformed the broader crypto market. Lido DAO’s LDO token rose 12.3% in the last day, while Ethereum staking protocol EtherFi (ETHFI) added 5.4%.

The rally follows last month’s brief “altcoin season,” which saw capital rotate out of Bitcoin into alternative assets. Now, with the SEC lifting the regulatory uncertainty around liquid staking, institutional investors may be more inclined to enter the space—particularly those previously hesitant to engage with DeFi due to yield-generation concerns.

Rebecca Rettig, legal counsel for liquid staking protocol Jito, suggested the SEC’s stance could pave the way for liquid staking tokens to be included in future ETF products, signaling deeper integration between traditional finance and decentralized staking mechanisms.