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A coalition of crypto industry groups voiced their support for a challenge seeking to protect software developers from catching criminal cases over others' use of their creations, telling the Texas federal judge overseeing the case that the U.S. government has recently taken an "unprecedented, sweeping interpretation" of money transmission statutes.

A coalition of crypto advocacy groups threw its weight behind a federal lawsuit challenging US Department of Justice (DOJ) efforts to prosecute open-source software developers under money transmission laws. Crypto investment firm Paradigm, the DeFi Education Fund, Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation and others filed an amicus brief on Monday in support of Michael Lewellen, a developer who built a non-custodial DeFi protocol and plans to release it publicly.

A group of crypto advocates, including Paradigm, DeFi Education Fund, and others, filed an amicus brief supporting Michael Lewellen’s opposition to the DOJ’s motion to dismiss his case. Lewellen, a blockchain developer and founder of Tarski Technologies, is challenging the government’s use of money transmission laws to prosecute developers of open-source, non-custodial crypto software.

“The GENIUS Act is a strong bill and would provide much-needed regulatory clarity on stablecoins,” said Amanda Tuminelli, executive director and chief legal officer of the DeFi Education Fund. “We should get the GENIUS Act passed as soon as possible and continue constructive conversations to move market structure legislation forward.”

The continuation of these charges has dashed hopes that Blanche’s memo would mark a radical change of course for the DOJ. Amanda Tuminelli, executive director and chief legal officer at the DeFi Education Fund, a policy advocacy group in DC, said during the PGP* for Crypto panel that parts of the memo were positive for the industry. “I think the spirit of the memo was a good one,” she said. But in the high-stakes conflict over what constitutes a money transmitting business, “it did not solve anything.” Tuminelli argued that Congress should amend the criminal code to “close the window for this to ever be misinterpreted again” by clarifying that the language in the criminal statute does not apply to software developers who don’t take control or custody over customer funds.

“This is a win for the U.S., a win for innovation, and a monumental step towards appropriate regulation for digital assets in the United States,” Amanda Tuminelli, the executive director of crypto lobbying firm DeFi Education Fund, said in a statement. “The DEF team looks forward to working with House leaders to advance this legislation.”

“This is a win for the U.S., a win for innovation, and a monumental step towards appropriate regulation for digital assets in the United States,” Amanda Tuminelli, executive director of the DeFi Education Fund, an industry lobbying group, said in a statement also shared with Decrypt.

"This is a win for the U.S., a win for innovation and a monumental step towards appropriate regulation for digital assets in the United States," said Amanda Tuminelli, executive director and chief legal officer of the DeFi Education Fund, in a similar statement.

When reached by Decrypt and asked whether he now perceives the Trump administration to be hostile to DeFi, based on his continued prosecution, Storm referenced a recent legal filing made by the DeFi Education Fund, an industry lobbying group, in Alexey’s Pertsev’s ongoing appeal of his conviction in the Netherlands. “Should we remove everything from the market that is known to be used by criminals for illegal activities?” the filing reads. “[S]oftware developers should not be held criminally liable for the actions of third parties who use their software to commit crimes.”

“Many industry participants came away from the roundtable optimistic about what’s ahead,”Jennifer Rosenthal, a spokesperson for the DeFi Education Fund, a research and advocacy group, told Decrypt. “It’s encouraging that there is an emphasis on listening and learning from industry participants.”

"This is a meaningful step toward protecting developers of non-custodial, peer-to-peer technologies while maintaining strong oversight of custodial financial institutions," the organizations said in a statement. Those groups include Coin Center, the DeFi Education Fund, Crypto Council for Innovation, Uniswap Labs, and the Blockchain Association, among others.

Two crypto advocacy groups, whose amicus curiae briefs on behalf of Samourai Wallet were denied this week by a federal judge, told Decrypt that along with other organizations, they urge the dismissal of the case against the Bitcoin mixer charged with operating as an illegal money transmitter. The Blockchain Association, Coin Center, the DeFi Education Fund, and the Bitcoin Policy Institute argued in their respective briefs that Samourai Wallet has simply helped people execute financial transactions online without violating U.S. law.

A group of eight industry organizations, including the DeFi Education Fund, Coin Center and Blockchain Association, released a joint statement on Thursday urging House lawmakers to fold the proposed Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act into its crypto market structure bill, which is scheduled for a markup on Tuesday. The industry groups argued that any market structure legislation should protect developers and providers of decentralized software from being accused of unlicensed money transmission.

In a notable display of unity, eight of the leading crypto policy organizations in Washington, D.C. issued a joint statement Thursday urging Congress to include the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) in the CLARITY Act. Originally introduced by Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) and now backed by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), the BRCA would protect software developers and infrastructure providers who do not custody user funds from being treated as traditional financial intermediaries. “It’s critically important that we don’t treat open-source developers like traditional financial institutions,” one policy lead told Crypto in America. “The BRCA draws that line clearly and protects innovation.” The signatories include: the DeFi Education Fund, Coin Center, Solana Policy Institute, Digital Chamber, Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, Bitcoin Policy Institute, and Paradigm.

The DeFi Education Fund, Coin Center, Solana Policy Institute, The Digital Chamber, Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, and the Bitcoin Policy Institute issued a joint statement on Thursday asking for a bill that aims to do just that to be included in market structure legislation.

"As the bill continues through the amendment process, we respectfully urge lawmakers to remain committed to its central goal: providing a targeted and comprehensive approach to stablecoin oversight," some of the top Washington lobbying groups said in a joint statement on Monday, signed by the leaders of the Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, DeFi Education Fund and the Digital Chamber.

Crypto lobby group the DeFi Education Fund and the Uniswap Foundation have said the Securities and Exchange Commission should be hands-off on regulating decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). The May 27 letter to SEC Crypto Task Force lead Hester Peirce argued that the agency should not treat DAOs under the purview of the securities-defining Howey test if they’re “sufficiently decentralized,” as they are not identifiable and are not a coordinated group.

Backed by more than two dozen organisations and experts, including the European Blockchain Association, Blockchain for Europe, the European Crypto Initiative, and, from the U.S. side, the DeFi Education Fund and the Blockchain Association, the declaration argues that PETs are indispensable to Europe’s digital sovereignty.

Amanda Tuminelli, executive Director and chief legal officer of the DeFi Education Fund, said Monday's vote to move the bill forward was significant. "Today’s vote is an important signal of progress toward creating clear rules for stablecoins in the United States," Tuminelli said in a statement.

“Those building neutral, noncustodial technologies should not be held to unreasonable criminal standards based on unsupportable interpretations of the law,” Amanda Tuminelli, executive director and chief legal officer of DeFi Education Fund, told Decrypt.

As the last line of a Monday DeFi Education Fund letter to crypto czar David Sacks notes: “The job’s not finished, and the stakes could not be higher.” That letter was about what it called “unlawful DOJ overreach” in the prosecution against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm. “No one writing code in good faith should have to fear prosecution for the actions of strangers,” they wrote.

A host of prominent figures in the crypto industry also signed on to a letter from the DeFi Education Fund to White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks on Monday, urging U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene in the case to “discontinue the Biden-era Department of Justice’s lawless campaign to criminalize open-source software development” and the prosecution of Storm.

Crypto advocacy group DeFi Education Fund on Monday addressed a petition to White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks arguing the SDNY "has not received the message" from the DOJ memo given it has continued to pursue its prosecution of Storm. "Under a novel and unprecedented theory, the SDNY is attempting to hold software developers criminally liable for how others use their code — even when the developers have no control over those third parties, or user assets," the petition said. "This is not only absurd in principle, but it sets a precedent that potentially chills all crypto development in the United States."

Prosecutors should drop their “lawless” campaign to imprison Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, crypto heavyweights said on Monday in a letter addressed to David Sacks, the White House crypto and AI czar. Storm’s upcoming criminal trial in the Southern District of New York has become a cause célèbre within crypto. Led by the DeFi Education Fund, an influential policy group, the letter was signed by executives at venture capital firms Paradigm, Multicoin Capital, and 6th Man Ventures.

The crypto lobby group, the DeFi Education Fund, has petitioned the Trump administration to end what it claimed was the “lawless prosecution” of open-source software developers, including Roman Storm, a creator of the crypto mixing service Tornado Cash.

In a letter led by the DeFi Education Fund to White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks on Monday, leaders urged the Trump administration to change course and end the Justice Department's "overreach" in prosecuting software developers. Those developers don't have control over third parties and should not be held criminally liable for how their code is used, they said.

On Monday morning, a group of industry leaders, led by the advocacy group DeFi Education Fund, sent a letter to President Trump’s Crypto and AI Czar, David Sacks, urging the White House to halt the Justice Department’s prosecution of open-source software developers

As new leadership prepares to take over the US Securities and Exchange Commission, a crypto advocacy group believes now is the time to revive a 2020 proposal, Blockworks has exclusively learned. The DeFi Education Fund is asking the SEC to establish a “safe harbor” for token issuers, allowing them a limited registration exemption while they develop decentralized networks. It’s an idea Commissioner Hester Peirce first floated five years ago.

"I think it's a huge benefit that we have so many organizations dedicated to trying to achieve regulatory clarity for digital assets," said Amanda Tuminelli, who stepped up to run the DeFi Education Fund when Whitehouse-Levine left. "I think it's been really needed, especially in the past few years, and when we work together, we actually accomplish great outcomes. For example, the IRS broker rule on DeFi."

However, to get that kind of legislation passed, it's important that developers and legislators take the time to understand one another with the help of go-betweens like Whitehouse-Levine, Smith, and other policy experts, DeFi Education Fund Executive Director Amanda Tuminelli—who will be working closely with SPI on DeFi-focused policy initiatives—told Decrypt. “We're all trying to reach out directly to developers and serve as a bridge between DeFi developers and the Hill,” Tuminelli said. “It's very important that we get clear law on the books while we can, [and] while Congress seems like they're in a place where that could happen," she said, adding that she's seen in recent months an increase in securities regulators and lawmakers holding meetings on issues that impact DeFi developers.

Amanda Tuminelli, the head of crypto advocacy firm DeFi Education Fund — which has made filings on Storm’s behalf — said she was grateful the department had narrowed its focus. But she still takes issue with prosecutors’ assertion Tornado Cash is a money transmitting business. “They never were transferring funds on behalf of someone else,” she told DL News, referring to the Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet developers. “Because they never had control over user funds by simply publishing code. That is what I wish the memo said.”

"With President Trump’s signature, the rule is officially disapproved and voided, and the United States has passed its first ever crypto legislation — a watershed moment for DeFi," the DeFi Education Fund noted in a Thursday posting to its site.

“This bipartisan action underscores our nation’s commitment to fostering innovation and ensuring that Americans retain the freedom to choose how they transact,” Amanda Tuminelli, head of crypto advocacy firm DeFi Education Fund, told DL News.

“This bipartisan action underscores our nation's commitment to fostering innovation and ensuring that Americans retain the freedom to choose how they transact, said Amanda Tuminelli, CEO of the DeFi Education Fund, an advocacy group focused on decentralized finance. “President Trump’s signature is a critical signal change for the crypto industry: the United States has embraced a sensible, forward-thinking approach to digital assets.”

“Digital asset regulatory history was made in the U.S. today,” Amanda Tuminelli, Executive Director of crypto lobbying group, the DeFi Education Fund, said in a statement shared with Decrypt. “President Trump’s signature is a critical signal change for the crypto industry: the U.S. has embraced a sensible, forward-thinking approach to digital assets,” it added

Trump's signature officially puts an end to the IRS' broker rulemaking, said the DeFi Education Fund's Executive Director Amanda Tuminelli in a statement. "The DeFi Education Fund commends all members of Congress who supported this resolution, recognizing the importance of protecting software developers and promoting the development of decentralized technologies," Tuminelli said. "President Trump’s signature is a critical signal change for the crypto industry: the United States has embraced a sensible, forward-thinking approach to digital assets."

As chair, Atkins has indicated that he will usher in deregulation at the agency and bring regulatory clarity to the crypto industry. His confirmation was hailed by those in the digital asset industry, including one of its leading advocates, the DeFi Education Fund. "With extensive experience in crypto & financial regulation, and deep commitment to fostering fair and efficient markets, Mr. Atkins is well-equipped to lead the Commission into a new era—one that encourages innovation and ensures robust investor protections," the fund stated on X.

The letter was issued under the letterhead of the DeFi Education Fund, an advocacy group that lobbies on behalf of the decentralized finance industry. “We are heartened to see that the DOJ announced it is redirecting resources to prosecuting the bad actors who are actually culpable for misuse of technology rather than the builders of our financial future,” the group’s Executive Director and Chief Legal Officer Amanda Tuminelli said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

A copy of the memo was posted to X Tuesday morning by Amanda Tuminelli, CEO of DeFi Education Fund, a crypto lobbying group. A source familiar with the matter confirmed its authenticity. The contents of the document were first reported by Fortune.

In its amicus, DeFi disagreed with the First Circuit's conclusion that the kinds of records seized by the IRS in Harper's case — including his taxpayer identification number, address and account statements — were similar to the bank records in Miller. Because crypto investors are anonymous on the ledger, revealing a single piece of user data gives the government a tool for viewing all the user's past and future transactions, DeFi said. In Miller, the data collected by the government amounted to a handful of business records, it said.

Calling the repeal a "crucial step towards protecting U.S. innovation and ensuring that developers can continue to build cutting-edge technologies without the burden of unclear, overreaching regulations," Amanda Tuminelli, the fund's executive director, hailed the Senate's vote in a statement on Wednesday. "The DeFi Education Fund commends the bipartisan supermajority of Congressional leaders who voted in favor of the 'DeFi Broker' CRA resolution, recognizing the severe and far-reaching consequences of the IRS’ misguided rulemaking."

In a statement, DeFi Education Fund Executive Director and Chief Legal Officer Amanda Tuminelli said the group "commends the bipartisan supermajority of Congressional leaders who voted in favor of the “DeFi Broker” CRA resolution, recognizing the severe and far-reaching consequences of the IRS’ misguided rulemaking."

The letter — led by the DeFi Education Fund and signed by the likes of Kraken and Coinbase — added that the Justice Department’s interpretation “creates confusion and ambiguity” and “threatens the viability of U.S.-based software development in the digital asset industry.” The group said the DOJ debuted its position “in August 2023 via criminal indictment” — the same time it charged Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov with money laundering.

The DeFi Education Fund has published a letter from various industry advocates calling on Congress to correct what it calls “the DOJ’s dangerous misinterpretation of money transmission laws.”

The letter, led by the DeFi Education Fund—an advocacy group focused on decentralized finance—was also signed by major industry players, including exchanges Coinbase and Kraken, crypto venture capital firms A16z, Multicoin Capital, and Paradigm, as well as self-custody companies Exodus and Ledger. Crypto In America has obtained a copy of the letter and is the first to report on it. The missive criticizes the DOJ’s position that DeFi platforms can be classified as money transmitting businesses, potentially holding software developers criminally liable for indirectly enabling illicit financial activity. The signers seek clarity on the DOJ’s interpretation of Section 1960 of the U.S. criminal code (which criminalizes centralized entities operating an unlicensed money transmitting business), arguing it is too broad and could threaten developers who don’t handle customer funds. They also express concern that the DOJ's approach creates confusion as it contradicts 2019 guidance from FinCEN, which excludes developers from being considered money transmitters.

Stepping back: The DeFi Education Fund, which has been a strong supporter of removing the sanctions, said in a blog post that the decision “minds the technological nuances of decentralized software protocols and front-end websites” and also “reaffirms something that DEF has been advocating for: immutable decentralized software cannot and should not be designated under sanctions authorities.” The organization stressed, however, that “more hard work remains to be done to protect software developers’ rights to build.” It pointed out that the government is still arguing in court cases that Tornado Cash is an “entity” that can be sanctioned. And it also noted that even while the sanctions were in effect, the mixer continued to operate. “Given this reality, it’s important that Treasury recognize that DeFi protocols are merely software tools for anyone to use at their discretion, akin to any other public infrastructure.”

An analysis from crypto advocacy firm DeFi Education Fund noted that the Treasury department has implied it still considers Tornado Cash a sanctionable entity, as some aspects of the protocol as controlled by its developers. “Continuing to assert that a decentralized software protocol is an entity and that developers of said protocol are themselves liable for enabling illicit activity for writing its code and making it publicly available is a flawed conclusion,” DeFi Education Fund wrote in its analysis.

The ruling in the 2023 Risley v. Uniswap case, in which Uniswap and some of its investors were accused of facilitating the trades of “scam tokens” on its decentralized exchange, could also be helpful in Storm’s case. In its decision, the court said that Uniswap developers were not liable for how third parties used the software. “This is an important principle for developers of all software, including DeFi technology and infrastructure: software is a neutral tool, and it is very important for developers to have clarity on their legal liabilities,” explained Amanda Tuminelli, Executive Director and Chief Legal Officer of the DeFi Education Fund in an email to Unchained. “This same principle is at issue in the case against Roman Storm, and it will certainly be at issue for the jury at his trial next month.”

A shake-up at DeFi Education Fund — The DeFi Education Fund, an advocacy group focused on the decentralized finance ecosystem, has a new leader: Amanda Tuminelli, Declan Harty reports. Tuminelli, currently the DeFi Education Fund’s chief legal officer, is set to succeed Miller Whitehouse-Levine starting next week as the new executive director, the group said in a statement. Whitehouse-Levine is stepping down to pursue a new opportunity after more than three years leading the group. He will join the DeFi Education Fund’s board. Tuminelli came to the DeFi Education Fund in 2023 from the law firm Kobre & Kim. In addition to executive director, she will also remain the group’s chief legal officer.

One of the leading U.S. advocates for decentralized finance (DeFi), Miller Whitehouse-Levine, is departing his job as executive director of the DeFi Education Fund, where he'll be replaced by the group's chief legal officer, Amanda Tuminelli. Whitehouse-Levine, a fixture in U.S. crypto circles, will remain on the organization's board, according to a Thursday announcement, and a person familiar with his plans said he'll be taking a not-yet-announced role that keeps him in the industry lobbying space.

Leadership is shifting at the DeFi Education Fund in appointing its Chief Legal Officer Amanda Tuminelli to become the executive director as crypto priorities gain momentum in Washington. On Thursday, the DeFi-focused advocacy group said that Tuminelli will succeed CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine, who is stepping down from the group to pursue another opportunity.

The DeFi Education Fund called the Senate development the "first of many historic milestones in the regulation of digital assets in the United States."

"Today marks the first of many historic milestones in the regulation of digital assets in the United States in this next chapter—as we move towards the enactment of the first standalone crypto legislation," a spokesperson for the DeFi Education Fund, another D.C.-based crypto lobbying group told Decrypt. "The DeFi Education Fund applauds the bipartisan supermajority of Senators who recognized the need to push back against regulatory overreach to protect Americans’ freedom to choose how they transact and American innovation."

“Today marks the first of many historic milestones in the regulation of digital assets in the United States in this next chapter — as we move towards the enactment of the first standalone crypto legislation,” a spokesperson for crypto lobbyist DeFi Education Fund told DL News in a statement. “The DeFi Education Fund applauds the bipartisan supermajority of Senators who recognised the need to push back against regulatory overreach to protect Americans' freedom to choose how they transact and American innovation.”

"In a bipartisan, super majority vote, the Senate voted to move forward to discuss and debate the CRA resolution," noted Jennifer Rosenthal, a spokesperson for the DeFi Education Fund. "This is a tremendous step forward, and now we move to the debate before the full Senate vote."

Amanda Tuminelli, the chief legal officer at DeFi Education Fund, a decentralized finance-focused lobbying group, said any groups in the crypto sector should be more confident they would not be sued "for a mere registration violation." "I don't think that we've won. I won't think that we have won until there are clear final rules on the books that make it clear, that are durable wins that make it clear that the industry is going to be able to innovate and exist for years in the future," she said in an interview.

“The DeFi Education Fund applauds the House Ways and Means Committee members who voted for moving the CRA to the House floor, recognizing the need to push back against unlawful and unconstitutional overreach by the Treasury and IRS and to protect Americans' freedom of choice in how they transact," said Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of the DeFi Education fund in a statement. "Members of the full House and Senate will now get to vote on the CRA."

Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal officer at the DeFi Education Fund, said in a statement to CoinDesk that the SEC’s decision to drop the investigation into Uniswap Labs “gives DeFi companies additional comfort to pivot from defending to embracing our right to build decentralized tech.”

“This is undoubtedly the right outcome, and one that corrects the mistakes of previous SEC leadership,” Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal officer at crypto advocacy firm DeFi Education Fund, said in a statement shared with DL News. “It gives DeFi companies additional comfort to pivot from defending to embracing our right to build decentralised tech.”

Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal officer at the DeFi Education Fund, said the SEC's move to drop the investigation was noteworthy. "It’s notable that the SEC is formally and publicly closing their investigation into Uniswap Labs," Tuminelli said in an emailed statement. "It gives DeFi companies additional comfort to pivot from defending to embracing our right to build decentralized tech."

"In addition to being a welcome signal of progress, this is also clear confirmation that the previous SEC leadership failed to sufficiently uphold its mission to protect American consumers, innovations, and markets — particularly related to the crypto industry — and new leadership is working quickly to course-correct," DeFi Education Fund chief legal officer Amanda Tuminelli said in a statement.

Beyond the letter, other crypto organizations are also weighing in. A spokesperson from the DeFi Education Fund said it's "thrilled" to see momentum building against the "unworkable, unconstitutional" rule that the group is committed to ensuring doesn't get implemented.

Industry groups likewise supported the nomination after news of it spread. Miller Whitehouse-Levine, the CEO of the DeFi Education Fund, a lobbying group, said the organization looked forward to working with him. "Brian has a long track record of supporting DeFi and advocating for sound policies that will enable DeFi developers and users to thrive in the United States," he said in a statement.

“Brian has a long track record of supporting DeFi and advocating for sound policies that will enable DeFi developers and users to thrive in the United States,” said Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of the DeFi Education Fund. “We look forward to working with the CFTC under his leadership to ensure America regains its position at the forefront of financial innovation.”

The US Department of Justice should stop holding decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols accountable for wrongdoing they didn’t instigate and can’t control, the DeFi Education Fund said in a Feb. 4 blog post on venture firm a16z’s website. “Holding people responsible for systems and activities over which they exercise no agency or control leads to perverse outcomes,” the post said.

Crypto advocacy group DeFi Education Fund has urged the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to reconsider its approach to holding DeFi protocol developers accountable for users’ actions.

“I am cautiously optimistic, given the rule-making is so out of line with what Congress was trying to do in the statute,” said Miller Whitehouse-Levine, chief executive officer of the DeFi Education Fund, an industry advocacy group. “This is an absolutely fundamental issue for the industry.”

Jennifer Rosenthal is leaving Grayscale Investments to join the DeFi Education Fund as its new chief communications officer, according to a statement. Rosenthal, who was the former head of communications at Grayscale, will be starting in her new role on Monday. She also previously held several management positions at the academic company Pearson.

Miller Whitehouse-Levine, chief of the advocacy group called the DeFi Education Fund, said, “Legislation around stablecoins and market structure, specifically, can happen quickly. On the stablecoin front, it’s just a Fed issue at this point... I don’t think that the Federal Reserve will be able to exercise a veto like they were able to do for the last four years.”

Some crypto lobbyists are hopeful that lawmakers will be able to push a bill over the finish line. Yet, until Congress does, investors remain in the lurch. Miller Whitehouse-Levine, who runs the DeFi Education Fund, said he is “disappointed” that a crypto framework has not already passed on Capitol Hill. “The lack of a clear regulatory framework in this space has only empowered bad actors at the expense of consumers and at the expense of good responsible businesses and developers in the U.S.,” Whitehouse-Levine said. “The reality is there have been massive failures that could have been prevented.”

“Today's ruling in SEC v. Coinbase marks a potentially pivotal moment in the law related to digital assets,” Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal officer at crypto lobbying group DeFi Education Fund, said in a statement shared with Decrypt. “For the first time, a federal circuit court will have the chance to address the controlling legal question of the extent of the SEC's statutory authority over digital assets,” she continued. “If the Second Circuit agrees to hear Coinbase's appeal, it will have the opportunity to provide legal clarity the industry has been asking for."

Meanwhile, passing stablecoin legislation could be considered more “low-hanging-fruit,” according to Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of decentralized-finance research and advocacy group DeFi Education Fund. Representative Patrick McHenry introduced the “Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act of 2023,” while Lummis and New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand put out a joint “Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act” last year. “There’s a broader consensus around what stablecoin legislation should look like,” said Whitehouse-Levine. “The McHenry bill that was marked-up in mid-2023 has been well-socialized and was negotiated with [Democratic Representative Maxine] Waters. I think that anything that passes will look largely similar to that bill.”

The complaint—filed by the Blockchain Association, the Texas Blockchain Council and the DeFi Education Fund—called the reporting rule a fundamental misunderstanding of how DeFi entities operate and at odds with the purpose of DeFi platforms. DeFi's main innovation is that users, not the platform, effectuate transactions with other users, the groups stated.

It’s clear that the plaintiffs in this case are deeply concerned about the future of innovation in the U.S. "We are incredibly disappointed in today’s decision by the Treasury and the IRS to finalize the misguided and unfairly sweeping DeFi portion of their ‘broker’ rulemaking," said Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of the DeFi Education Fund. "Decentralized Finance promises to make financial services and the digital economy more accessible, efficient, interoperable, dependable, and consumer-focused. This promise is at the heart of our work at the DeFi Education Fund. This unfortunate rulemaking is a direct threat to financial innovation, and we intend to fight it using every tool available to us."

The SEC has called Coinbase’s request “extraordinary.” Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of crypto advocacy group DeFi Education Fund, agrees. That’s because the court would order the SEC to create bespoke rules for crypto in the event Coinbase wins. “That is an extraordinary remedy that happens very rarely,” Whitehouse-Levine told DL News.

“There are many, many priorities on the Republican caucus’ agenda, and it’s less a question about whether crypto is going to be a priority in the next Congress, and more of how many other higher priorities will be taking up time, and how efficient can Congress be?” Whitehouse-Levine says there are other bills that are less sweeping in scope but no less important to the industry that have a greater chance of passing in 2025, such as Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer’s Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act.