The legislation is vague enough, and the possible characterizations of tokens numerous enough, that there are invariably many reasonable interpretations. So it's not like the SEC is necessarily playing fast & loose either, except to the extent they want you to believe it's a slam-dunk. The SEC aggressively leverages that vagueness, but the reality is that vagueness usually benefits the defendant, especially with an increasingly conservative Supreme Court. OTOH, the approach used for SEC case law going back to 1934 is unique, so SEC-related decisions don't always track the direction of administrative law generally. Securities law is like its own quasi common law, a vestige of the tectonic shifts during the Great Depression and Roosevelt era, which makes it somewhat unique in the domain of Federal administrative and criminal law. Unless you really dig down, it's often the case that two sides have drastically different interpretations which are nonetheless both objectively reasonable on their face.

Though maybe it is a slam-dunk. I'm not a practicing lawyer, and certainly not an expert in securities law. I just have enough background knowledge and legal education to know that when it comes to SEC enforcements the legal landscape is often contentious, and that the SEC has a well-known M.O. It's just something to keep in mind as an outsider.