Over 100 crypto companies sign joint letter urging inclusion of DeFi protection provisions in the crypto market structure bill

BlockBeats News, August 27, according to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, more than 110 crypto companies, investors, and advocacy groups have signed a joint letter warning the leaders of the U.S. Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees that if market structure legislation does not explicitly protect open-source software developers and non-custodial service providers, they will be unable to support the bill. With backing from major enterprises such as a certain exchange, a16z crypto, Ripple, as well as top projects, investment firms, and state blockchain councils, the DeFi Education Fund warned that treating developers who publish code or enable non-custodial blockchain access as financial intermediaries could hinder blockchain innovation in the United States.

The alliance pointed out that, according to the White House's recent digital asset report, the proportion of U.S. open-source software developers has dropped significantly, from 25% in 2021 to 18% in 2025. While the alliance praised the House and Senate for including some developer protections and the right to self-custody digital assets in the current market structure draft, they believe this is not enough and have begun calling for clear federal rules to protect DeFi developers, ensure nationwide regulatory consistency, and uphold U.S. open-source innovation.