House Hearing on Crypto Tax Legislation; Launch of Defend Developers PAC; Founders and CEOs Submit Letter Advocating for the BRCA; and more.

DEF & SPI File Comment Letter to OFAC and FinCEN on GENIUS Act Implementation

On June 9, 2026, DEF and the Solana Policy Institute (SPI) submitted a comment letter in response to proposed rulemaking by FinCEN and OFAC to implement anti-money laundering provisions of the GENIUS Act. The proposal would subject regulated stablecoin issuers—called  permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs)—to the Bank Secrecy Act, requiring them to comply with anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, and reporting obligations.  

DEF and SPI’s comments focused on three core principles: 

• Compliance obligations should fall on the entities with control over user funds and technical capability to implement BSA requirements; 
• Preserve the GENIUS Act’s exclusion of peer-to-peer activity and non-custodial developers from BSA obligations; and  
• Ensure secondary market BSA obligations are limited to PPSI-controlled activity. 

You can read DEF’s full comment letter here.

House Ways and Means Hearing on Crypto Tax Legislation

On June 9, 2026, the House Ways and Means Committee held its first legislative hearing on a comprehensive digital asset taxation framework. While six pieces of legislation were considered, four are particularly relevant to DeFi:

• H.R. 9178, the “Less Tax Paperwork for Digital Asset Owners Act,” would establish a de minimis exemption for network fees of $10 or less and provide an alternative method for calculating gains and losses on certain digital assets. 
• H.R. 9172, the “Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act,” would extend wash-sale and constructive sale rules to digital assets. 
• H.R. 9175, “Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act,” would treat newly-minted assets as income, but would allow taxpayers to elect to treat them as self-property and defer their tax burden.
• H.R. 9176, “Providing Analogous Rules for Digital Assets Act,” would allow traders and brokers to use mark-to-market accounting and allow taxpayers to lend digital assets without triggering a taxable event. 

Committee members and witnesses emphasized the need to remove administrative burdens on taxpayers and the IRS, alike. Lawrence Zlatkin, Vice President of Tax at Coinbase, applauded H.R. 9178’s proposed de minimis exemption for small network fees but urged Congress to go further by extending similar relief to digital asset transactions more broadly, noting that “Americans shouldn’t need an account to buy jeans, and the IRS doesn’t benefit from tracking millions of transactions that generate little or no revenue…”

Witnesses also debated the proposed application of wash-sale rules to digital assets in H.R. 9172. The wash-sale rule prevents investors from selling securities at a loss, then immediately repurchasing that same asset to reduce their tax liability. In the DeFi context, compliance would be particularly burdensome, as individual users would be responsible for tracking gains and losses across large volume transactions and multiple self-custodied wallets.  

You can watch the full hearing here. 

DEF’s Policy Lead Gavin Zavatone Launches Defend Developers PAC

On June 3, 2026, DEF Policy Lead Gavin Zavatone launched Defend Developers PAC (DDPAC), a new hybrid political action committee. As the first unaffiliated PAC dedicated exclusively to protecting developers and crypto builders, DDPAC will raise funds from both individuals and corporations. DDPAC aims to support congressional incumbents with a demonstrated record of supporting developers, helping to build a durable pro-developer legislative coalition in Congress. 

Gavin joined Crypto in America to discuss DDPAC’s launch and the latest developments surrounding the CLARITY Act. During the conversation, he emphasized the importance of educating policymakers and the public about the bill’s robust anti-money laundering and law enforcement provisions, while also highlighting the need to preserve strong protections for developers. As Gavin explained, “the most important thing is making sure that the protections for the BRCA remain strong and remain in the bill, because if we’re going to establish a regulatory framework for the next century of digital assets, we need to protect people from inappropriate misclassification.”

You can listen to the full Crypto in America episode here, and learn more about the Defend Developers PAC here. 

60+ Founders and CEOs Submit Letter Advocating for the BRCA

On June 9, 2026, more than 60 founders and CEOs sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), urging the Senate to preserve the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) as it appears in Section 604 of the CLARITY Act.

As the letter explains, “Without the BRCA in its current form, market structure legislation risks failing to provide the certainty needed to support broad innovation in the United States. From core Bitcoin development to novel DeFi smart contract designs, developers need clear legal certainty to openly build, maintain, and contribute to community-driven software projects.”

You can read the full letter here. 

CRS Publishes New Report “Cryptocurrency: Regulatory & Legislative Policy Issues”

On May 29, 2026, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published a new report, “Cryptocurrency: Regulatory & Legislative Policy Issues,” surveying recent developments in digital asset policy and outlining potential issues facing Congress and regulators. 

Notably, the report includes a dedicated section titled, “What to Do About Decentralized Finance,” which examines the ongoing debate over whether DeFi should be regulated differently from centralized cryptocurrency service providers.” The report also cites DEF research showing that the United States’ share of global open-source software development declined from 25% in 2021 to 18% in 2025, highlighting concerns that regulatory uncertainty may be driving innovation offshore.

You can read the full report here. 

SEC Director Discusses Priorities for SEC-CFTC Harmonization 

On June 4, 2026, the SEC Division of Trading and Markets Director Jamie Selway spoke about the road ahead for SEC-CFTC collaboration at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange & Fintech Conference in New York.  

In his remarks, Selway explained that “effective harmonization means efficiency and flexibility for registrants, as well as lower barriers to innovation.” He noted that the SEC is prioritizing policy harmonization with the CFTC and is actively exploring pathways for novel products as part of its broader efforts to modernize regulation. 

You can read Selway’s full speech here. 

Notable and Quotable 

“Candidates who champion digital asset policy and financial privacy don’t have to look far for voter support. It’s already there. Political support for crypto has more than doubled since 2024, and 84% of Americans believe individuals, not companies, should own their personal data. In races decided on the margins, this constituency can be the difference.”

—Julie Stitzel, Chief Policy Officer, DCG

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