The document references the Code of Laws of the United States of America or USC, specifically the sections on Securities Fraud, Commodities Fraud, and Wire Fraud. The SEC didn't add these sections just for this case, they were there before Celsius was founded.
I think that it's more accurate to say that the legality of these actions wasn't clear, which everybody knew from the start. These companies decided to take a risk, and they rolled badly on the dice.
The legality is still unclear, too. We don't know whether or not these companies violated the law until a court rules on it.
They were completely clear. The whole time. There were no moments when it was a reasonable thought that securities weren't securities "because blockchain.
