US Lawmakers Advocate for DeFi Developers

US bill exempts DeFi developers from money transmitter licenses.

Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden have introduced the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. The bill exempts developers and providers of non-custodial services from the requirement to obtain money transmitter licenses.

Writing code is not the same as controlling money and developers who build blockchain infrastructure without touching user funds shouldn’t be treated like banks. @RonWyden and I are ensuring that won’t happen. pic.twitter.com/9zIgh07e0b

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) January 12, 2026

According to the initiative, software creators who do not control user funds should not be subject to the same rules as financial intermediaries.

“Forcing code developers to comply with the same rules as exchanges or brokers is technologically illiterate. It is a direct path to violating Americans’ rights to privacy and free speech,” said Wyden.

The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act is expected to be included in a comprehensive package of cryptocurrency market reforms being prepared by the Senate Banking Committee. Hearings on the amendments and voting are scheduled for January 15.

Industry Position

The DeFi Education Fund has expressed support for the initiative. Representatives of the organization emphasized that protecting software creators is critically important for the future of the financial system.

The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) provides critical protections for software developers of non-custodial, decentralized technologies — ensuring they will not be inaccurately and unfairly treated as “money transmitters” under the BSA and criminal law. The BRCA, which… https://t.co/1mWypyAlR8

— DeFi Education Fund (@fund_defi) January 12, 2026

On January 9, the non-profit organization Solana Policy Institute sent a letter to the SEC. Experts urged the Commission to clearly distinguish between centralized exchanges and non-custodial DeFi protocols.

The authors of the initiative insist that applying the rule defining the concept of an “exchange” to open source code is inappropriate. Smart contract developers do not hold client assets, execute trades, or manage funds.

The Solana Policy Institute believes that equating DeFi with trading platforms will stifle innovation and push businesses offshore.

Precedents

The issue of programmer liability has intensified amid the prosecution of the Tornado Cash team. Authorities in the US and the Netherlands are pursuing legal action against developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. The main point of contention is whether writing and publishing open source code can be considered complicity in a crime if the authors did not have access to user funds.

In January, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin published a letter supporting Storm, who faces up to five years in prison. As a staunch advocate of privacy, he has supported the mixer developer’s project from the outset.

Another high-profile precedent was the case of the Samourai Wallet founders. In November 2025, a court sentenced them to prison for laundering over $237 million. Keonne Rodriguez received a five-year sentence, while his colleague William Lonergan Hill received four years.

In December, US President Donald Trump suggested the possibility of pardoning Rodriguez. In January, the developer’s wife, Lauren Emily, confirmed on X that the family continues to seek a review of the decision.

This is an old video. We are still seeking a pardon! Please sign the petition to let @POTUS know you care about bitcoin developers freedom! https://t.co/x7szheKftE

— lauren emily (@leamuirleyn) January 13, 2026

She urged the community to sign a petition to demonstrate the importance of freedom for bitcoin developers.

Back in August 2025, Matthew Galeotti from the US Department of Justice stated that the department would cease prosecuting DeFi application developers under the statute for operating an unlicensed money transmission business.