This roundtable meeting features a luxurious lineup, bringing together the most influential players in the current cryptocurrency field. More subtly, the meeting is led by Senate Democrats, and it was this camp that previously proposed a DeFi regulatory draft which, after being leaked, triggered a backlash throughout the industry, causing bipartisan negotiations to come to a complete standstill.
This time, in a different posture, core players such as Coinbase, Ripple, Circle, Uniswap, Chainlink, Kraken, Galaxy, Solana, a16z, etc., have been invited. The purpose is not to announce results but to bring the dialogue back on track, likely focusing on two main issues:
First, repair relationships and avoid hard clashes between regulation and industry. Corporate executives are not there to endorse solutions, but to strive for participation in the formulation of legislation and regulatory frameworks.
Second, finding a breakthrough for market structure legislation. The current issue in the U.S. is no longer whether to regulate, but who will regulate and how to regulate. This meeting will likely touch on the following core issues:
Should DeFi be included in the CFTC or SEC system?
How do centralized and decentralized trading platforms comply?
Should stablecoins, L2, and liquidity pools be subject to tiered regulation?
How should self-custody, DAO responsibilities, and on-chain activities be incorporated into legislation?
Considering the current political games and industry landscape, the following trends may emerge:
The Democratic Party is likely to soften its previous hardline statements in order to avoid the label of stifling innovation and push for a revised draft.
Promote a tiered regulatory model, no longer a one-size-fits-all approach, but instead set standards for CeFi, DeFi, stablecoins, and infrastructure protocols separately.
If corporate representatives can present executable technical and regulatory solutions, the congressional deadlock may be broken, and the power struggle over SEC/CFTC regulation may have a chance to ease.
The U.S. may enter a buffering period of ongoing discussions, dragging, and adjustments, not in a hurry to make a decision, but will no longer suppress strongly.
In my view, this is a reconnection between regulation and industry. If an agreement can be reached, the U.S. may shift towards a controlled innovation route; if talks break down, capital, projects, and discourse will continue to spill over, and the counterforce will eventually force policy adjustments.
So the key to this meeting is: who sets the standards? Who can be exempted? Who is responsible for enforcement? Who will be used as a bargaining chip? This round of talks is likely the starting point for the next phase of the global crypto policy landscape.