A coalition of 112 crypto companies, investors and advocacy groups has called on the US Senate to include protections for software developers and non-custodial service providers in upcoming market structure legislation.
A letter sent Wednesday to the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees, authored by the DeFi Education Fund and its coalition partners, said the industry spoke “with one voice,” urging lawmakers to ensure developers and non-custodial actors are not misclassified as intermediaries under outdated financial rules.
“Provide robust, nationwide protections for software developers and non-custodial service providers in market structure legislation,” the letter said. “Without such protections, we cannot support a market structure bill.”
The signatories include Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, a16z, Uniswap Labs and nearly every major US crypto lobbying group, from the Blockchain Association to the Digital Chamber.
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US risks losing ground in crypto
Crypto advocates argued that the US risks losing ground in open-source development without strong protections. The letter pointed to Electric Capital data showing the US share of open-source blockchain developers fell from 25% in 2021 to 18% in 2025, mainly attributed to regulatory uncertainty.
“To create an environment in which innovators across America can confidently and safely build financial infrastructure, the final version of market structure legislation must include explicit federal protections for blockchain infrastructure developers and non-custodial service providers,” the letter said.
They added that such safeguards were essential to prevent innovation from leaving the US, avoid conflicting state laws and build on bipartisan support seen in the CLARITY Act, which passed with overwhelming backing.
Related: CLARITY Act isn’t perfect, but it’s the bill US Congress must pass this summer
Crypto market bill to reach Trump by year-end
Last week, Senator Cynthia Lummis said a digital asset market structure bill will reach President Donald Trump’s desk “before the end of the year,” with the goal of advancing it through the Senate Banking Committee by September and the Senate Agriculture Committee by October.
The legislation will determine how the SEC and CFTC oversee crypto markets, with Lummis suggesting the bill may arrive ahead of Thanksgiving.
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