Solana Institute CEO Urges Senate to Pass CLARITY Bill With Developer Protections Intact

Solana Institute CEO Kristin Smith is calling on the U.S. Senate to pass the CLARITY crypto market structure bill while keeping protections for software developers and blockchain infrastructure providers, arguing they should not be regulated as financial intermediaries. According to Cointelegraph, Smith said in a thread on the X social media platform that the legislation “has a real shot at passing the Senate,” making it important for lawmakers to preserve safeguards for open-source developers. Smith said more than 60 crypto CEOs and founders, including Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, signed an open letter urging the Senate to maintain robust developer protections in the CLARITY Act. She added that open-source developers, validators, and non-custodial wallet providers do not control user funds or execute transactions and therefore should not be treated as brokers or custodians.

Smith pointed to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) as a framework that would provide legal certainty for noncontrolling software developers and blockchain infrastructure providers that do not custody customer assets or control transactions. Introduced in January by Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden, the bipartisan BRCA aims to prevent open-source developers from being classified as “money transmitters” solely for publishing software code. Smith’s comments also echoed remarks by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce, who said last week that publishing open-source blockchain code is protected speech and that developers should not be treated as financial intermediaries simply because others use their software. Speaking at the IC3 Blockchain Camp at Princeton University, Peirce said that “many blockchain projects involve publishing open-source software, which is generally a protected activity under the First Amendment.” The CLARITY Act cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May and was recently placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar, setting the stage for a possible floor vote later this summer. The SEC’s mandate regarding digital assets has evolved significantly under current Chair Paul Atkins, who vowed to end the agency’s “regulation through enforcement” approach to the industry.