On June 9, 2025 Eastern Time (early morning Beijing Time), Paul S. Atkins, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), delivered a speech at the "DeFi and the American Spirit" roundtable held in Washington, DC.

The content of the speech is very explosive. I will first extract some golden sentences for you to feel:

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) embodies America’s economic freedom, property rights, and innovative spirit.

The right of individuals to self-custody over their private property is a "fundamental American value" that should not be restricted by the use of the internet or blockchain technology.

Engineers should not be subject to federal securities laws simply for publishing such software code. As one court ruling put it, it is absurd to hold developers of self-driving cars responsible for third-party violations of laws or bank robberies.

At present, it seems that the US SEC is going to fully relax its supervision of Defi. My cousin paid the fine too early. If he drags it on until now like Brother Sun, he doesn’t have to pay it~

The following is the full text of Atkins' speech (the original English text can be found at the end of the article, and my comments are in brackets):

The theme of this roundtable is (DeFi and the American Spirit). This title is very appropriate because the core American values ​​of economic freedom, private property rights and innovation are the genes of the decentralized finance (DeFi) movement.

Blockchain is undoubtedly a creative and potentially revolutionary innovation that forces us to rethink ownership and the way intellectual and economic property rights are transferred.

Blockchains are shared databases that enable people to own digital property called crypto assets without relying on intermediaries or central authorities.

Instead, these peer-to-peer networks employ an economic incentive mechanism that encourages participants to validate and maintain the database according to the network's rules.

It is a free market system where users pay fees to network participants based on demand in order for their transactions to be included in a data “block” with limited capacity.

(Recognize blockchain technology)

The previous U.S. administration has discouraged Americans from participating in these market-driven systems through lawsuits, speeches, regulations, and threats of regulation, claiming that participants and “staking-as-a-service” providers may be involved in securities transactions.

(Complaining about the previous administration, in line with Trump)

I appreciate the Division of Corporation Finance staff’s clear statement that they believe voluntary participation in Proof of Work (PoW) or Proof of Stake (PoS) networks as “miners,” “validators,” or “staking service providers” is not covered by the federal securities laws.

While I am pleased with this progress, this is not a formal rule enacted by law with legal force, so we cannot stop here.

The SEC must write the rules based on the authority Congress has given us.

(Limit the SEC’s rights and not interfere with matters that should not be interfered with)

Another core feature of blockchain technology is that individuals can manage their encrypted assets independently through digital wallets.

The right to self-custody of one's private property is a fundamental American value, and this right should not disappear just because one is connected to the Internet.

I support providing market participants with greater flexibility to manage their crypto assets autonomously, especially where intermediaries impose unnecessary transaction costs or restrict their participation in staking and on-chain activities.

(The major intermediary agencies are the biggest beneficiaries of the current market, and they just sit there doing nothing.)

The former president’s administration also cracked down on innovation in self-custodial digital wallets and other on-chain technologies through regulatory actions, claiming that developers of such software might be engaging in brokerage operations.

Engineers should not be subject to federal securities laws simply for releasing such software code.

As one court ruling put it, it would be absurd to hold developers of self-driving cars liable for third parties using their cars to break laws or rob banks.

"In cases like these, the individuals who committed the illegal acts should be prosecuted, not the company that manufactured the cars," the ruling read.

(This is the same reason as not restricting residents from owning guns)

Many entrepreneurs are developing software applications that can run without the need for operator management. Such self-executing code that can be accessed by everyone and controlled by no one, and can perform private peer-to-peer transactions, may sound like science fiction.

But blockchain technology does open up the possibility of a whole new class of software that can operate without an intermediary. I don’t think we should allow century-old regulatory frameworks to stand in the way of these technological innovations that have the potential to radically change, and most importantly, enhance and advance, our existing financial intermediation models.

We should not instinctively fear the future.

(Traditional financial intermediaries are in trouble. By the way, banks are the largest financial intermediaries! No wonder Buffett wants to sell off bank stocks)

These on-chain automated execution systems have demonstrated resilience during the crisis. In contrast, while some centralized platforms have faltered or even collapsed under recent market pressures, many on-chain systems continue to operate normally according to open source code.

Most existing securities regulations are based on the supervision of issuers and intermediaries such as brokers, advisors, exchanges and clearing agencies.

The drafters of these regulations could hardly have foreseen that self-executing software code could replace these issuers and intermediaries.

(The main role of supervision over financial intermediaries at present is to know who to arrest and send to jail)

I have asked Commission staff to assess whether further guidance or rulemaking is needed to assist registered entities in conducting transactions with these software systems in compliance with the law.

(It depends on how we catch people in the future)

I am also excited about issuers and intermediaries using on-chain software systems to remove economic friction, improve capital efficiency, enable new financial products, and enhance liquidity.

(The market can save a lot of intermediary fees)

While existing securities regulations already take into account the possibility that issuers and intermediaries will use new technologies, I have asked staff to evaluate whether the SEC’s rules need to be revised to better suit the actual needs of issuers and intermediaries that want to build on-chain financial systems.

(Who to arrest in the future is a question)

As the Commission and its staff develop specific rules applicable to on-chain finance markets, I have directed the staff to consider a conditional exemption mechanism, namely an “innovation exemption.”

This exemption mechanism can speed up the pace of registered and unregistered entities launching on-chain products and services in the U.S. market.

(But we are not considering arresting people in the short term)

The innovation exemption will help realize President Trump’s vision of “making the United States the global crypto capital” and encourage developers, entrepreneurs, and companies willing to operate in compliance under certain conditions to carry out on-chain technology innovation within the United States.

(Everyone, hurry up and do it!)