US SEC PLANS EXEMPTION POLICY TO UNLOCK DEFI INNOVATION

- US SEC Chair Paul Atkins says the Commission is crafting a policy to exempt DeFi platforms from regulatory hurdles.

- This move aims to clear the way for innovation in decentralized finance, a sector often caught in regulatory crossfire.

- Atkins made these remarks at the latest SEC crypto roundtable, highlighting a new “innovation exemption.”

- The SEC’s Crypto Task Force, launched earlier this year, is spearheading this shift.

Key Details:

- The exemption covers DeFi issuers and intermediaries, acknowledging that traditional laws don’t suit self-executing code.

- Atkins stressed that developers building DeFi software should not be blamed for how others use their code. This is a shift from past approaches, which often treated software creators as if they were financial intermediaries.

- The proposed framework would give firms conditional relief, enabling them to innovate while still following specific safeguards.

- The agency is moving away from creating policy through court battles and enforcement actions. Instead, it’s focusing on clear rules shaped by “notice and comment” procedures, a more transparent method.

Major Backing:

- Republican commissioners, now the majority, back this crypto-friendly stance.

- Commissioner Hester Peirce emphasized that simply publishing code should not be regulated as securities activity.

- Yet, she also warned that calling something “decentralized” doesn’t exempt centralized actors from regulation.

- Atkins concluded, “We should not automatically fear the future.”