“The American values of economic liberty, private property rights, and innovation are in the DNA of the DeFi movement,” said SEC Chair Paul Atkins at the regulator’s latest Crypto Task Force Roundtable on decentralized finance on June 9.
Atkins criticized applying “century-old regulatory frameworks” to DeFi and blockchain innovation, noting that current securities rules were designed for traditional intermediaries and issuers, not self-executing software systems.
“The prior administration discouraged Americans from participating in blockchains by asserting through lawsuits, speeches, regulation, and threatened regulatory action that participants and staking-as-a-service providers may be engaged in securities transactions.”
Key points from Chairman Paul Atkins’ remarks today at “DeFi and the American Spirit,” SEC’s Crypto Task Force Roundtable on Decentralized Finance – a
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) June 9, 2025
Green Light for Ethereum DeFi
Atkins also clarified that voluntary participation in a proof-of-work or proof-of-stake network as a miner, validator, or staking-as-a-service provider “is not within the scope of the federal securities laws.”
He was also in favor of “affording greater flexibility” to market participants to self-custody crypto assets, and said “publishing staking code or wallet software isn’t brokerage activity.”
Moving forward, the SEC chair directed staff to explore guidance for registrants transacting with blockchain systems and consider rule amendments to accommodate on-chain financial systems. He also proposed an “innovation exemption” framework for expedited market entry of compliant on-chain products and services.
“An innovation exemption could help fulfill President Trump’s vision to make America the “crypto capital of the planet” by encouraging developers, entrepreneurs, and other firms that are willing to comply with certain conditions to innovate with on-chain technologies in the United States.”
It was a “huge day for Ethereum,” said former developer Eric Conner, who added, if this becomes policy, the US becomes the crypto capital of the world:
“Ethereum gets regulatory clarity for staking, self-custody, and open-source infra”
Ethereum is the industry standard for DeFi with an on-chain value of $68 billion, giving the network a commanding market share of 55%, more than all of the other chains combined, according to DeFiLlama.
1/ Huge day for Ethereum & DeFi.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins just laid out his crypto vision, and it’s the clearest signal yet that DeFi is winning the regulatory argument.
Here’s what matters
— Eric Conner (@econoar) June 9, 2025
ETH Price Reacts
Ethereum prices reacted positively to the roundtable, surging 8% on the day from below $2,500 to top out at $2,720 during the Tuesday morning Asian trading session.
However, this level has proved to be strong resistance four times over the past month, and the asset retreated again from the intraday high.
ETH has been range-bound for the past month and needs to break above $2,800 to see further momentum.
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