Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and the advocacy group DeFi Education Fund have requested that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) establish a safe harbor program for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, exempting them from the agency's broker-dealer registration requirements.
In a letter to SEC Commissioner and crypto working group head Hester Peirce on Wednesday, a16z and the DeFi organization stated that they are following up on a call from U.S. President Donald Trump's Digital Assets Working Group to "provide relief from the registration requirements of the Securities Exchange Act for certain DeFi service providers, including broker-dealers […], exchanges […], and clearing agencies […]."
In July, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins also indicated that he had instructed the agency's staff to "update outdated agency rules and regulations regarding certain cryptocurrencies and blockchain applications."
In terms of SEC regulations, the safe harbor would allow many companies offering crypto-related products and services to avoid enforcement actions. The commission and individual investors have previously filed civil lawsuits against cryptocurrency companies, accusing them of operating as unregistered dealers, including Cumberland DRW, Coinbase, and Kraken.
"The guiding principle of the safe harbor is that only those applications that do not present the risks that the broker-dealer regulatory framework of the Securities Exchange Act is designed to address should qualify; in this case, registration as a broker-dealer under the Securities Exchange Act is unnecessary and inappropriate," the letter to the SEC stated, adding:
The proposed changes to SEC policy follow a16z's letter to Peirce in March, detailing a proposal to establish a safe harbor for NFTs at the agency. The company also stated in another letter that the commission "could take the following steps" to establish a safe harbor for airdrops and network tokens.
In June, the SEC reported that as of 2024, approximately 3,340 broker-dealers managing $6.4 trillion in assets had registered with the agency. The agency noted at the time that there was a "trend of industry consolidation, with a declining proportion of market participants, but a larger pool of assets under management."
The commission established a special purpose broker-dealer (SPBD) category in December 2020 for the custody of digital asset securities. However, the SEC clarified in May that the SPBD designation is not mandatory for "broker-dealers seeking to custody customer crypto assets that are securities," adding that both digital asset and traditional securities businesses would be subject to standard requirements.
Once U.S. lawmakers address proposed legislation to establish a crypto market structure, how the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) handle digital assets may change. The main piece of legislation regarding market structure, known as the CLARITY Act, passed the House in July and is currently awaiting Senate consideration.
Related: Report: DeFi Soars with Tokenized Stocks, but User Activity Shifts to NFTs
Original: “A16z Crypto and Advocacy Group Call on SEC to Provide Safe Harbor for NFTs, DeFi Applications”
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