DeFi Education Fund

@fund-defi

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DeFi Education Fund

During the SEC Crypto Task Force’s recent DeFi Roundtable, Chair Atkins made the exciting announcement that the SEC will explore a DeFi “innovation exemption.” In a new DEF blog post, DEF's Gavin Zavatone breaks down what this could mean for DeFi and highlights 3 critical principles for the exemption.

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DeFi Education Fund

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act with a bipartisan supermajority. TODAY, DEF published a blog post examining what's in the bill that just passed, what it means for DeFi, and what's next. As we write: "GENIUS is significant for DeFi in that it recognizes decentralized blockchain networks as base layer infrastructure in a dollar-backed global financial system, protects peer-to-peer transactions in stablecoins, and explicitly treats DeFi differently than centralized intermediaries..."

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DeFi Education Fund

Today, DEF & Coin Center are happy to submit an expert opinion to the Dutch court handling Alexey Pertsev’s appeal as he undergoes trial in the Netherlands. The brief addresses key technological aspects of the Tornado Cash Protocol as well as privacy-related tools within DeFi. 🧵

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DeFi Education Fund

[NEW] Today, DeFi Education Fund & @blockchainassn published an amicus brief in the Samourai Wallet case in support of Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill’s motion to dismiss the indictment. Though the Judge denied the motion allowing amicus briefs in Samourai, we felt it important to share our perspective 🧵👇

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DeFi Education Fund

Congress has an opportunity to protect developers of non-custodial peer-to-peer software protocols from being unreasonably targeted for regulation. Today, we — Coin Center, Solana Policy Institute, The Digital Chamber, Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, Paradigm, and Bitcoin Policy Institute — are collectively calling on Congressional leaders to support the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) by including it in market structure legislation.

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DeFi Education Fund

🚨The DeFi Education Fund and Uniswap Foundation provided a submission to the SEC Crypto Task Force focused exclusively on DAOs. What’s the TLDR? See the 🧵 👇

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DeFi Education Fund

1/ DEF proudly supports Rep. Tom Emmer & Rep. Ritchie Torres in re-introducing the Blockchain Regulatory Clarity Act today (BRCA). The BRCA is bipartisan legislation that would protect developers of non-custodial peer-to-peer software protocols with no control over user assets from being incorrectly defined as operators of money transmitting businesses (MTBs).

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DeFi Education Fund

Notable update in the Samourai Wallet Case: Today, devs’ lawyers revealed that despite being *explicitly* told by FinCEN that non-custodial software such as Samourai Wallet is most likely not a money transmitter, DOJ prosecuted the devs anyway…

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DeFi Education Fund

Do you care about privacy? Do you care about keeping America as the hub for innovation? If you said yes to either, *SIGN* our petition calling for dismissal of the case against software developer Roman Storm.

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DeFi Education Fund

If you care about ENDING the lawless prosecution of software developers in the U.S., and dismissing the case against Roman Storm, please sign our petition👇 Protect developers. Protect innovation. Protect DeFi. Protect America's leadership in tech.

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DeFi Education Fund

1/ Today, DEF is pleased to launch a petition calling on the Trump administration to END the lawless prosecution of software developers in the U.S. 🧵 https://section1960.defieducationfund.org/

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DeFi Education Fund

1/ On Friday, DEF submitted an Amicus Brief supporting James Harper as he petitions the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) for a Writ of Certiorari. In this legal brief, DEF is urging SCOTUS to hear Harper’s case. https://www.defieducationfund.org/post/def-submits-amicus-brief-to-protect-american-s-fourth-amendment-rights Why? Let’s dive in 👇

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DeFi Education Fund

🚨DEF Leadership Update 🚨 Today, we are announcing that after three years of tremendous leadership @millercwl will be stepping down as CEO, and @atuminelli will become our new Executive Director. 🧵 https://www.defieducatdeionfund.org/post/the-defi-education-fund-announces-leadership-transition

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DeFi Education Fund

The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) is a failure in traditional finance, yet recent legal theories being pushed by the DOJ are seemingly extending BSA’s burdensome framework to DeFi—ultimately, putting American innovation, privacy, and decentralization at risk. In a new article by DEF’s Gavin Zavatone & Henry Michaelson, we continue our exploration of the BSA. This latest paper focuses on why the BSA is ineffective and would cause existential harm to the DeFi industry. https://www.defieducationfund.org/post/examining-the-burdens-costs-and-failures-of-the-bank-secrecy-act-bsa-and-the-potentially-disast

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DeFi Education Fund

Developers beware: Could your code land you in legal trouble? The DOJ’s indictment of Samourai Wallet's founders represents a direct attack on software developers building non-custodial, privacy-enhancing tools. In a new paper, authored by DEF’s Spencer Peek, we examine the DOJ's indictment, arguing that their non-custodial, privacy-enhancing software does *not* constitute an unlicensed money transmitting business under existing laws. To dig deeper into why this matters, please click the link below for the full paper: https://www.defieducationfund.org/_files/ugd/84ba66_87dfb370e81a4766811bf16e5293c6da.pdf

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DeFi Education Fund

“The same intuitive principle that governs our understanding of car manufacturer and driver liability should be the foundation of sensible policymaking in the context of decentralized networks and protocols.” Today, @a16zcrypto published a piece authored by DEF’s @millercwl & @atuminelli discussing why sound policymaking for crypto should always start from an analysis of “control” in a given system. 🧵 https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/doj-actions-against-defi/

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DeFi Education Fund

Today, we are excited to share that Jennifer Rosthenthal has joined DEF as our Chief Communications Officer 🚀 https://www.defieducationfund.org/post/defi-education-fund-def-is-pleased-to-welcome-jennifer-rosenthal-as-chief-communications-officer

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DeFi Education Fund

2024 was pivotal for DeFi & crypto policy. We worked tirelessly to educate lawmakers on DeFi’s promise, how it works, and the importance of protecting developers’ and users’ rights. Read our year-end note for a recap of our work + a glimpse into 2025. https://www.defieducationfund.org/post/2024-year-in-review

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DeFi Education Fund

In a paper published today in The International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators, DEF’s @atuminelli along with @jchervinsky & @dbarabander from @variant take a deep dive into the law on unlicensed money transmitting businesses, 8 U.S.C. § 1960, and argue that, based on an extensive review of the case law and statutory history, control over customer funds is necessary to define an entity as a “money transmitting business” - a business that “transfers funds on behalf of the public.” 🧵👇 https://www.defieducationfund.org/post/def-publishes-new-paper-in-in-the-international-academy-of-financial-crime-litigators

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DeFi Education Fund

It’s no secret. The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) has been a mainstay of policy debates around crypto more broadly in the United States. That is why DEF’s Lizandro Pieper and Gavin Zavatone decided to do a deep dive 🧵 👇 https://www.defieducationfund.org/_files/ugd/84ba66_a568e222f78048e2a8625abb76d3b0fc.pdf

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