DeFi Education Fund and a16z Request Regulatory Safe Harbor from the SEC

• Proposal seeks clarity for non-custodial blockchain applications
• Safe harbor would exclude apps from SEC brokerage rules
• Trump promises to make the US the global capital of cryptocurrencies

The DeFi Education Fund, in partnership with venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has submitted a proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create a regulatory safe harbor for certain blockchain applications. The initiative seeks to clarify the rules applicable to tools like Uniswap, Coinbase Wallet, and OpenSea, which have already faced investigations by the agency.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins announces that DeFi platforms will be exempt from regulatory restrictions.

He's also stated that “The right to have self custody of one's private property is a foundational American value that should not disappear when one logs on to the internet.” pic.twitter.com/dN7bSyRea2

— Adrian Dittmann (@AdrianDittmann) June 9, 2025

The letter was addressed to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and argues that "a safe harbor would provide much-needed regulatory clarity, preserve the Commission's authority to oversee high-risk activities, and ensure that developers can build in the United States without fear of misapplication of legal categories inappropriate for modern software infrastructure."

The proposal comes amid regulatory changes under the Trump administration, which created a task force dedicated to cryptocurrencies, dropped investigations into several companies in the sector, and launched "Project Crypto" to update regulations on digital assets. The current president has repeatedly promised to make the US "the capital of cryptocurrencies."

According to the DeFi Education Fund and a16z, the safe harbor would benefit non-custodial applications that do not make investment recommendations, exercise no discretion over operations, and whose underlying protocols are fully decentralized. These conditions assume that such applications function as passive software tools, allowing users to interact directly with public, decentralized networks.

The SEC previously alleged that Coinbase Wallet operated as an unregistered exchange, but the claim was dismissed by a court. Similar notices were sent to Uniswap Labs and OpenSea, but they were also dismissed.

Amanda Tuminelli, executive director of the DeFi Education Fund, reinforced that the proposal was designed to be adaptable. "Developers deserve clarity, and our hope in submitting this proposal is to provide front-end developers with guidelines that allow them to build without fear of being limited by unreasonable requirements that are misaligned with the realities of technology," she stated.