In a significant political manoeuvre, a coalition of over 100 digital assets companies and advocacy groups has sent a letter to the U.S. Senate calling for robust federal protections for open source software developers.
The coalition, which includes industry giants such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap Labs, as well as prominent venture capital firms, has warned lawmakers that they will not support a pending market structure bill without these explicit protections. The move comes at a time when Congress is preparing to pass legislation aimed at creating a new regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market.
A call for clarity and consistency
The letter, which was spearheaded by the DeFi Education Fund, makes a strong case for treating software developers differently from financial intermediaries. The coalition’s main concern is that, under current U.S. law, developers could be misclassified or prosecuted as money transmitting business operators, a designation that carries serious legal consequences.
The coalition’s demands are specific and non-negotiable:
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Federal Protections: Explicitly protect developers from being classified as money transmitters. -
Legal Clarity: Ensure that creating and publishing open-source code does not automatically subject developers to financial regulations. -
Nationwide Preemption: Establish a single federal standard that preempts conflicting state laws, preventing a confusing and often contradictory patchwork of regulations.
The letter directly addresses a key legal and ideological fault line in the crypto debate. The industry argues that open-source software is neutral infrastructure, akin to the internet or a public road. They contend that a developer who writes code should not be held liable for how a third party uses that code, just as a car manufacturer is not criminally responsible for a bank robbery committed using their vehicle.
This argument is gaining urgency following the recent conviction of a Tornado Cash developer on charges of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, as Coinidol.com reported.
The risk of losing innovation
The coalition supports its argument with stark data from Electric Capital, which shows a troubling trend. According to their research, the U.S. share of open-source blockchain developers has fallen dramatically from 25% in 2021 to just 18% in 2025. This decline is attributed directly to regulatory uncertainty and the fear of prosecution. The letter warns that without a clear and protective legal framework, the U.S. risks a continued outflow of talent and innovation to more crypto-friendly jurisdictions.
In a separate but related development, the U.S. Commerce Department has started publishing key macroeconomic data on public blockchains. This initiative, spearheaded by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and supported by President Donald Trump, is a groundbreaking move to enhance data transparency and further integrate blockchain into official government operations. The data, which includes a hash of quarterly
GDP figures, is being published on multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
No double standards
This move is a powerful symbol of the government’s growing embrace of the technology, but it also underscores the need for regulatory certainty for the developers who build and maintain these very networks. The contrast between a government using blockchain for public data while developers of that same technology face legal uncertainty is not lost on the industry.
The letter to the Senate makes it clear that while the industry welcomes a clear regulatory framework, it will not support a bill that fails to address this core issue of developer protections. The coalition’s unified stance signals a pivotal moment in the legislative process, forcing lawmakers to confront a fundamental question: can the U.S. secure its position as the “crypto capital of the world” without first protecting the builders of its digital infrastructure?
Source: https://coinidol.com/no-double-standards/