SEC Chairman Paul Atkins spoke at the panel discussion “DeFi and the American Spirit” on June 10, 2025, these statements are revolutionary for the upcoming Defi, many DeFi-related tokens are being established.
1. Legalizing and “normalizing” DeFi
- The SEC Chairman's recognition of DeFi reflects the American spirit as a step of “implicit legislation”. It helps eliminate doubts about the legality of DeFi.
- This paves the way for institutions (large financial organizations) to participate in DeFi safely and legally.
2. Staking is no longer considered a security
- Confirming that staking (including liquid staking like Lido, EtherFi) is not a “security” helps remove the biggest legal risk associated with staking-as-a-service projects.
- Previously, Coinbase, Kraken, Lido, etc. were always worried about being labeled as “unregistered securities issuance”
3. Proposal for an “Innovation Exemption” mechanism
- The proposal for an innovation exemption is an initiative of the SEC, allowing companies to develop DeFi/crypto products to market faster, without needing to immediately comply with all old securities regulations.
- The goal is to promote innovation, supporting the vision of America as the "crypto capital", but must meet some basic conditions (not detailed yet). Reducing legal barriers but with the risk of fraud if not closely monitored.
4. Changing the legal definition – Disrupting the old framework
- The SEC perceives: The old securities law is not suitable when applied to “self-executing code”.
- This is a fundamental change in perception: Shifting from viewing smart contracts as organizational activities → to truly decentralized activities.
5. Personal conclusion
- Can you imagine why@CZ said this is DeFi day, because these views from the SEC are truly significant for DeFi
- The SEC is laying the groundwork for the legalization of DeFi – rather than the blind crackdown seen during Gensler's time.
- The US wants to turn crypto into a legitimate industry, similar to the Internet after 1996 (the law protecting digital platforms)
- Blue-chip DeFi projects like Aave, Uniswap, Maker, Lido will become the new generation of international financial platforms, similar to the roles of JPMorgan, Citi, Nasdaq in the real world finance (of course traditional giants will look for ways to acquire DeFi projects)
- For those investing long-term, you might consider repositioning your portfolio: removing legally weak projects, increasing the weight of sufficiently decentralized protocols, serving compliance cash flows.
- What are your thoughts?
#steven_research
