Crypto CEOs tell Senate: don't regulate our code, regulate the code-breakers 🧑‍💻

More than 60 crypto executives and founders, including Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, have signed an open letter urging the US Senate to preserve robust developer protections in the CLARITY Act, according to Solana Institute CEO Kristin Smith. In a thread on the X social media platform, Smith said the market structure legislation "has a real shot at passing the Senate," making it critical for lawmakers to shield open-source developers, validators and non-custodial wallet providers from being regulated as financial intermediaries. She said the signatories argue these parties do not control user funds or execute transactions and therefore should not be classified as brokers or custodians.

Smith pointed to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), introduced in January by Senators Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., as the legislative vehicle for that protection. The bipartisan bill aims to prevent open-source developers from being classified as "money transmitters" solely for publishing software code. The CLARITY Act cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May and was recently placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar, setting the stage for a possible floor vote later this summer.

Smith's position mirrors recent remarks by US Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce, who said last week at the IC3 Blockchain Camp at Princeton University that "many blockchain projects involve publishing open-source software, which is generally a protected activity under the First Amendment." Peirce argued that developers should not be treated as financial intermediaries simply because others use their software. The SEC's posture toward digital assets has shifted under current Chair Paul Atkins, who has pledged to end the agency's "regulation through enforcement" approach to the industry.