A coalition of 112 cryptocurrency firms, investors, and advocacy organizations has urged the US Senate to embed protections for software developers and non-custodial service providers in forthcoming market structure legislation.
In a letter sent on Wednesday to the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees, the industry expressed a unified stance, calling on lawmakers to ensure developers and non-custodial entities are not misclassified as intermediaries under outdated financial regulations.
“Provide robust, nationwide protections for software developers and non-custodial service providers in market structure legislation,” the letter emphasized. “Without such protections, we cannot support a market structure bill.”
Signatories include Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, a16z, Uniswap Labs, and nearly every prominent US crypto lobbying organization, ranging from the Blockchain Association to the Digital Chamber.
Source: DeFi Education Fund
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US risks losing ground in crypto
Crypto proponents contended that the US risks falling behind in open-source development without adequate protections. The letter referenced data from Electric Capital indicating that the US share of open-source blockchain developers dropped from 25% in 2021 to 18% in 2025, largely due to regulatory uncertainty.
“To foster an environment where innovators across America can safely and confidently build financial infrastructure, the final version of market structure legislation must incorporate explicit federal protections for blockchain infrastructure developers and non-custodial service providers,” the letter stated.
They further noted that such safeguards are crucial to prevent innovation from relocating overseas, to mitigate conflicting state laws, and to build upon the bipartisan support evident in the CLARITY Act, which passed with significant backing.
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Crypto market bill to reach Trump by year-end
Last week, Senator Cynthia Lummis mentioned that a digital asset market structure bill would reach President Donald Trump’s desk “before the end of the year,” aiming for advancement through the Senate Banking Committee by September and the Senate Agriculture Committee by October.
This legislation will define how the SEC and CFTC regulate crypto markets, with Lummis suggesting the bill might arrive before Thanksgiving.
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