a16z Proposes Regulatory Safe Harbor for DeFi Project Websites and Apps to the US SEC

BlockBeats News, August 13th, according to Coindesk, cryptocurrency investment firm a16z and the DeFi Education Fund are petitioning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to provide a regulatory safe harbor for websites and applications used to access DeFi projects, aimed at providing protection for decentralized finance (DeFi) websites and mobile apps.

This Wednesday's joint application submitted with the DeFi Education Fund comes as the White House and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler have increased their support for DeFi, encouraging this cryptocurrency subsector to develop without heavy regulatory hindrances. A recent cryptocurrency report issued by the Trump administration included recommendations to allow "certain DeFi service providers" to be exempt from broker-dealer registration requirements.

The proposal states: "At the core of the safe harbor guidance principles is that only those applications that do not pose the risks targeted by the broker-dealer regulatory regime of the Securities Exchange Act are eligible for exemption; in such cases, requiring them to register as broker-dealers under the Securities Exchange Act is neither necessary nor appropriate."