Dozens of crypto groups petitioned President Donald Trump for support on policy initiatives his administration can pursue while Congress debates next steps on market structure legislation that has been a primary focus for the sector.
The letter, led by the recently established Solana Policy Institute and signed by others including the Blockchain Association, Digital Chamber, Crypto Council for Innovation, and DeFi Education Fund, emphasized “quick wins to complement legislative efforts.”
These legislative discussions, particularly the Senate’s negotiations over a bill that may respond to the House’s Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, have been stalled past the initial deadlines set by Trump and his legislative allies. During this delay, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have initiated several crypto policy efforts.
The industry urged the president to ensure that “developers of source-available, permissionless protocols and front-ends are not subject to enforcement while related rulemaking proceeds,” and that the SEC and CFTC work to protect individuals’ rights to self-custody their crypto assets. The groups also called for protections for decentralized finance (DeFi) innovations across various agencies.
The letter, signed by various crypto businesses, projects, and investment firms including Uniswap, Paradigm, and FalconX, demanded tax considerations from the Internal Revenue Service. These included guidance clarifying that mining and staking rewards should not be taxed until the assets are sold and that minor gains from purchasing goods or services should be disregarded as taxable events.
Many tax-related requests echo provisions proposed by lawmakers like Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming who leads the Senate Banking Committee’s crypto subcommittee.
The letter stated, “In just the first year of your presidency, the Trump administration and Congress have unlocked unprecedented opportunities for crypto investors, users, and builders,” directly addressing Trump, who has shown strong support for crypto advancement and has financial ties to several ventures in the sector. The industry believes he can facilitate “a robust whole-of-government approach on crypto to achieve your objective of making America the crypto capital of the world.”
The industry is also asking for an end to any Department of Justice pursuits against “developers of DeFi technology, including open-source software protocols that are decentralized and permissionless regarding civil liability.” The DOJ has previously prosecuted developers of crypto mixers, with some facing prison sentences for their actions.
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