Crypto industry urges SEC to formalize DeFi guidance

Over 35 crypto organizations urge the SEC to make its temporary DeFi guidance permanent, seeking clear rules to ensure legal certainty and support innovation in decentralized finance.

A coalition of over 35 cryptocurrency organizations—including the DeFi Education Fund, a16z crypto, Aptos Labs, Uniswap, Chainlink, Paradigm, Solana Policy Institute, and Phantom—has formally petitioned the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make its recent temporary guidance on decentralized finance (DeFi) interfaces permanent. The SEC’s April 13 staff statement exempts certain DeFi front-end operators—those allowing users to interact with DeFi protocols while retaining control of their assets—from registering as broker-dealers. This allows them to collect transaction fees without a broker-dealer license. However, this exemption is temporary and set to expire in five years unless formalized. Industry participants warn that the current informal and temporary nature of the guidance creates regulatory uncertainty, potentially hindering innovation and exposing more entities to future regulation. The coalition argues that only clear, lasting rules will provide the legal certainty needed for DeFi infrastructure and protect neutral service providers from unintended regulation. With legislative solutions stalled, the industry views SEC rulemaking as the only viable path to long-term clarity.