DeFi Education Fund and a16z Request Regulatory Safe Harbor from the SEC
- Proposal seeks clarity for non-custodial blockchain applications
- Safe harbor would exclude apps from SEC brokerage rules
- Trump promises to make the US the global capital of cryptocurrencies
The DeFi Education Fund, in partnership with venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has submitted a proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create a regulatory safe harbor for certain blockchain applications. The initiative seeks to clarify the rules applicable to tools like Uniswap, Coinbase Wallet, and OpenSea, which have already faced investigations by the agency.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins announces that DeFi platforms will be exempt from regulatory restrictions.
He's also stated that “The right to have self custody of one's private property is a foundational American value that should not disappear when one logs on to the internet.” pic.twitter.com/dN7bSyRea2
— Adrian Dittmann (@AdrianDittmann) June 9, 2025
The letter was addressed to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and argues that "a safe harbor would provide much-needed regulatory clarity, preserve the Commission's authority to oversee high-risk activities, and ensure that developers can build in the United States without fear of misapplication of legal categories inappropriate for modern software infrastructure."
The proposal comes amid regulatory changes under the Trump administration, which created a task force dedicated to cryptocurrencies, dropped investigations into several companies in the sector, and launched "Project Crypto" to update regulations on digital assets. The current president has repeatedly promised to make the US "the capital of cryptocurrencies."
According to the DeFi Education Fund and a16z, the safe harbor would benefit non-custodial applications that do not make investment recommendations, exercise no discretion over operations, and whose underlying protocols are fully decentralized. These conditions assume that such applications function as passive software tools, allowing users to interact directly with public, decentralized networks.
The SEC previously alleged that Coinbase Wallet operated as an unregistered exchange, but the claim was dismissed by a court. Similar notices were sent to Uniswap Labs and OpenSea, but they were also dismissed.
Amanda Tuminelli, executive director of the DeFi Education Fund, reinforced that the proposal was designed to be adaptable. "Developers deserve clarity, and our hope in submitting this proposal is to provide front-end developers with guidelines that allow them to build without fear of being limited by unreasonable requirements that are misaligned with the realities of technology," she stated.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
How much CPO demand will Nvidia Rubin Ultra generate? Bernstein: Optical value per Pod will increase fivefold
Bernstein believes that the co-packaged optics (CPO) and fiber demand driven by Nvidia's Rubin Ultra architecture will surge significantly, with the optical content per Pod rising from $1 million to $5.4 million. This will propel the size of Nvidia's optical ecosystem market to $46.8 billion by 2028 (a 91% annual increase). Although the industry faces supply bottlenecks with InP substrates, the outlook remains positive. The institution reiterates its “outperform” rating for Lumentum, Coherent, and Ciena.
UBS Q3 implements a two-way strategy with gold options, heavily invests in technology stocks, and builds positions in SK Hynix (SKHY.US)
UBS Group (UBS.US) has submitted its Q3 holdings report (13F) as of September 30, 2026.
SpaceX (SPCX.US) reportedly attempts “de-Nvidiaization” at the rack level: developing Kessel cabinets to bypass L6 compute boards, purchasing only chips
SemiAnalysis: SpaceX has developed its own Kessel cabinet, bypassing Nvidia's L6 cards to provide more options for manufacturing its own hardware.
$3.7 billion “data center power equipment prepayments” abandoned! What did "the most active buyer of gas turbines", SoftBank, see?
In the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, SoftBank reported a net loss of $7.1 billion, primarily due to a $3.7 billion impairment charge from a $9.5 billion advance payment for power generation equipment for US data centers—of which about $2.9 billion was non-refundable and effectively lost. The CFO admitted that SoftBank placed orders before the project plan was finalized, and is now conducting a comprehensive review of its procurement strategy. "The most aggressive purchaser of gas turbines has now written off the deposit in this way."
Crypto prices
More
