DEF June Recap

Below you’ll find a recap of what the DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has been up to in June 2025. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about a specific activity, please do not hesitate to reach out to contact@defieducationfund.org.

Advocating for Software Developers in CLARITY Act

On June 5, 2025, DeFi Education Fund, Coin Center, Solana Policy Institute, The Digital Chamber, Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, Paradigm, and Bitcoin Policy Institute issued a joint statement, collectively urging Congress to incorporate the bipartisan Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) into the upcoming market structure legislation.

Then, on June 9, 2025, DEF, along with Coin Center, Solana Policy Institute, The Digital Chamber, Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, Paradigm, Bitcoin Policy Institute, Jump Crypto, and Uniswap Labs, released another statement congratulating House Leaders for including the BRCA in an updated version of the CLARITY Act. 

For more information on the BRCA, check out DEF's helpful one-pager on the Act.

Exploring Potential “DeFi Innovation Exemption”

During the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Crypto Task Force’s recent roundtable,  “DeFi and the American Spirit,” SEC Chairman Paul Atkins acknowledged that the foundational American values of economic liberty, private property rights, and innovation are in the DNA of DeFi. Chairman Atkins announced that he has instructed the Commission’s staff to explore a proposed “innovation exemption” from the Commission’s securities framework.

While very few details are available so far, it seems that the proposal would be a conditional exemptive relief framework that would allow projects to bring DeFi technology to market without being subject to securities regulations and obligations that are suited for centralized financial intermediaries.

In a blog post, DEF’s Policy Analyst Gavin Zavatone breaks down what this could mean for DeFi and highlights 3 critical principles for the exemption.

Read the full blog post here. 

Providing Expert Opinion Pertsev’s Trial

On June 12, 2025, the DeFi Education Fund and Coin Center submitted an expert opinion to the Dutch court overseeing Tornado Cash co-founder and software developer Alexey Pertsev’s appeal in his criminal case. The brief explains how the Tornado Cash Protocol and similar privacy-focused software tools work.

In the filing, DEF and Coin Center warn that holding software developers responsible for how others use their code could have serious unintended consequences. We explain that decentralized finance is built on removing intermediaries, and argue that, with the right regulatory approach, DeFi can provide major benefits to both individuals and society.

To read the full brief, please click here.

Submitting Amicus Brief in Support of Samourai Wallet Founders

On June 6, 2025, DEF and the Blockchain Association published a joint amicus brief in support of the Samourai Wallet defendants’ motion to dismiss the charges. 

While we originally intended to file the brief in Court, the Judge denied the defendants’ motion to allow amicus briefs. Despite this, we felt strongly that we needed to share our perspective.

Our amicus explains why Count II of the indictment should be dismissed. One of the central arguments in our brief is that the government’s theory of liability in Count II, alleging the defendants operated an unlicensed money transmitting business, is novel, ill-considered, and in direct contradiction of FinCEN’s 2019 guidance — thus violating the principles of due process and fair notice.

You can access the amicus brief and dig further into our reasoning here.

Continuing Efforts to Push GENIUS Act Forward

On June 17, 2025 the United States Senate officially passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act of 2025 with a bipartisan supermajority vote of 68-30. The GENIUS Act aims to establish a federal framework for the issuance and regulation of payment stablecoins in the U.S.. It sets requirements for reserve backing, transparency, consumer protection, and compliance with anti-money laundering laws, while also creating pathways for federal and state-level stablecoin issuers.

GENIUS is significant for DeFi in that it recognizes decentralized blockchain networks as base layer infrastructure in a dollar-backed global financial system, protects peer-to-peer transactions in stablecoins, and explicitly treats DeFi differently than centralized intermediaries, securing affirmative language for the future of DeFi infrastructure.

June Financial Disclosures

You can find a detailed look into DEF’s June 2025 financials in the breakdown below. If you would like a deeper look at our 2025 financial breakdowns, please click here. 

Donations Received	$346.00
Lobbyists	$55,019.00
Public Relations	$990.00
Policy Litigation	$41,600.00
Marketing
Merchandise
Operating Expense	$12,634.00
Payroll and Associated Taxes	$165,181.00
Professional Fees
Accounting	$28,835.00
Legal	$1,275.00
Other Consultants	$1,000
Transacting Fees	$3,040.00
Insurance	$1,953.00
Tax & Licenses	$913.00
Other Overhead	$6,777.00

June Media

Print/Online

• CoinDesk: Crypto Lobbyists Urge U.S. Senators to Dodge Distraction in Stablecoin Debate

  • "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.

• The Block: Crypto groups push to add a bill that aims to protect software developers in overarching legislation

  • 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.

• Crypto in America: House Prepares CLARITY Act Markup as Crypto Industry Seeks Key Amendments

  • 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.

• Law360: Crypto Groups Want Protections For Developers In House Bill

  • 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.

• Decrypt: Crypto Advocacy Groups Urge Dismissal of Case Against Bitcoin Mixer Samourai

  • 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.

• The Block: Software developer protections added to large House crypto bill ahead of scheduled debate

  • "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.

• Decrypt: Ethereum Governance Tokens Spike as SEC Backs ‘Innovation Exemption’ for DeFi Projects

  • “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.”

• Decrypt: Weeks Before Trial, Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm Sounds Alarm: ‘If I Lose, DeFi Dies With Me'

  • 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.”

• CoinDesk: U.S. Senate Passes GENIUS Act to Regulate Stablecoins, Marking Crypto Industry Win

  • "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.

• Decrypt: Senate Passes Landmark Stablecoin Bill in Major Boon for Crypto Industry

  • “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.

• DL News: Genius Act clears Senate in historic vote for stablecoins as focus turns to House

  • “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.”

• Project Glitch: Trump’s government is prosecuting important crypto cases in much the same way as the Biden administration did

  • 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.

• Crypto in America: Battle of Wills on the Hill: Crypto Bills Spark GOP and Industry Divide

  • “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.”

Defining DeFi: June Content and Appearances by DEF

• Joint Statement from Crypto Policy Organizations on Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act

  • UPDATED: Joint Statement from Crypto Policy Organizations on Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act

• DEF & BA Publish Amicus Brief in support of the Samourai Wallet Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the Charges.

• New Paper from DEF Explores the Potential Impacts of SEC v. Balina

• U.S. Senate Passes GENIUS Act

• Chair Atkins’ Proposed DeFi Innovation Exemption

For up-to-date information about what’s happening in D.C., and what the DeFi Education Team is up to, please follow us on X @fund_defi and subscribe to our weekly newsletter “The DeFi Debrief” on Substack.