Coalition Stresses Need for Developer Protections in Crypto Market Bill
An intriguing coalition of 112 crypto firms,investors,and advocacy groups recently contacted the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees. Their message? Support for critical market structure legislation hinges on strong protections for software developers.
this influential group, including giants like Coinbase and Kraken, is united in insisting that the bill must include explicit safeguards for blockchain developers. Without these guarantees, they declare their backing for the legislation won’t materialize.
The letter, driven by the DeFi Education Fund, highlights the risk of classifying open-source software creators within conventional banking regulatory frameworks. This misalignment could cripple innovation in the sector, they argue.
A telling statistic underscores their concerns: U.S. involvement in open-source software growth has slid from 25% in 2021 to 18% in 2025. This dip, they claim, stems largely from regulatory ambiguity.
Furthermore, legal actions against developers, such as the conviction of Roman Storm, add to the tension. Storm faced serious charges for creating the Tornado Cash protocol, even though he didn’t control its use.
To foster a secure development ecosystem, the coalition urges lawmakers to:
- Shelter individuals from regulations for merely creating or maintaining blockchain code.
- Establish a federal standard that overrides conflicting state laws.
- Ensure developers aren’t mistakenly labeled as unlicensed money transmitters.
These measures aim to promote innovation and legal certainty in the burgeoning crypto industry.
