a16z Proposes Regulatory Safe Harbor for DeFi Project Websites and Apps to SEC

According to Coindesk, cryptocurrency investment firm a16z and DeFi Education Fund are petitioning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide a regulatory safe harbor for websites and applications used to access DeFi projects, aiming to seek protection for decentralized finance (DeFi) websites and mobile apps. The joint application submitted on Wednesday with the DeFi Education Fund comes as the White House and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins increase their support for DeFi, encouraging this cryptocurrency subsector to develop without heavy regulatory hindrances. The recent cryptocurrency report released by the Trump administration includes recommendations to allow certain DeFi service providers to be exempt from broker-dealer registration requirements. The proposal states that the core principle of the safe harbor guidance is that only applications that do not pose risks targeted by the broker-dealer regulatory regime under the Securities Exchange Act are eligible for exemptions; in such cases, requiring them to register as broker-dealers under the Securities Exchange Act is neither necessary nor appropriate.

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