BlockBeats news, on August 27, reported by crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, that more than 110 crypto companies, investors, and advocacy groups signed a joint letter warning the leaders of the U.S. Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees that they will not be able to support the market structure legislation if it does not explicitly protect open-source software developers and non-custodial service providers. With the support of heavyweight firms like Coinbase, a16z crypto, Ripple, as well as top projects, investment firms, and state blockchain committees, the DeFi education fund warns that treating developers who release code or enable non-custodial blockchain access as financial intermediaries could hinder U.S. blockchain innovation.
The alliance points out that, according to the White House's recent digital asset report, the proportion of open-source software developers in the U.S. has significantly decreased from 25% in 2021 to 18% in 2025. While the alliance commends the House and Senate for incorporating some developer protection measures and the right to self-custody of digital assets in the current market structure draft, they believe this is not enough and are starting to call for the establishment of clear federal rules to protect DeFi developers, ensure nationwide regulatory consistency, and maintain U.S. open-source innovation.
