The BRCA makes it clear that non-controlling software developers and infrastructure providers—those without custody or control over user funds or private keys—are not subject to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) obligations intended for financial intermediaries.
On the House side, the bill was first introduced in 2023 by Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) and reintroduced in 2025 with Representative Ritchie Torres as co-sponsor. In the Senate, the bill was introduced by Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). The bipartisan BRCA includes the following safe harbor, which is critical for protecting software developers:
“No blockchain developer or provider of a blockchain service shall be treated as a money transmitter or as engaging in ‘‘money transmitting’’, . . . a financial institution . . ., or triggering liability for unlicensed or unregistered conduct, unless the developer or provider has, in the regular course of business, control over digital assets to which a user is entitled under the blockchain service or the software created, maintained, or disseminated by the blockchain developer or provider.”
What It Does
Protects developers of non-custodial peer-to-peer (p2p) software protocols with no control over user assets from being unreasonably treated as operators of an unlicensed money services business (MSB).
Key Resources
Related Content
- Emmer Reintroduces Bill to Bring Regulatory Clarity to Digital Assets Ecosystem
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- Crypto Coalition Letter to Senate re Market Structure Developer Protections
- Square Peg in a Round Hole: Why the Bank Secrecy Act Should Not Apply to Blockchain Participants
- The BSA is Broken