Solana Institute CEO Kristin Smith called on the US Senate to pass the CLARITY bill, which aims to regulate the structure of the cryptocurrency market while preserving protections for developers. Smith argued that open source developers and blockchain infrastructure providers should not be regulated like financial intermediaries.
Developer protections came to the fore in the Senate process
In the messages he shared on the According to his statement, more than 60 crypto company executives and founders, including Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, signed an open letter addressed to the Senate.
Smith emphasized that open source developers, validators, and non-custodial wallet providers do not control user assets or process transactions, and therefore should not be considered intermediaries or custodians.
Smith said this approach is also compatible with the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. The regulation aims to provide a clearer legal framework for software developers and blockchain infrastructure providers that do not store customer assets and control transactions.
Mini dictionary: Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act is a US legislative proposal that aims to ensure that developers and infrastructure providers who do not have control authority in the blockchain ecosystem are not considered in the same scope as money transfer organizations. The bill focuses on reducing legal uncertainty, particularly for open source developers who simply release software.
This bipartisan proposal, introduced in January by Senator Cynthia Lummis and Senator Ron Wyden, aims to prevent developers who publish open source software code from being classified as “money transmitters” solely for this activity. It was reported that the CLARITY bill was passed by the Senate Banking Committee in May and was recently added to the Senate Legislative Calendar. This development brought the possibility of a general assembly vote to the agenda as the summer months progressed.
Similar messages came from the SEC front
Smith’s assessments also coincide with the recent statements of Hester Peirce, a member of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. In his speech last week, Peirce stated that publishing open source blockchain code could be protected under freedom of expression, and that others’ use of this software would not automatically turn the developers into financial intermediaries.
Many blockchain projects rely on releasing open source software, which is generally considered a protected activity under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Peirce said at the IC3 Blockchain Camp event at Princeton University.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is known as the main regulatory body that oversees the capital markets in the country. It was reported that the institution’s approach to digital assets has changed significantly under current President Paul Atkins, and Atkins has promised to end the “regulation through sanctions” approach for the sector.
