Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and the DeFi Education Fund have formally petitioned the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish a regulatory safe harbor for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. The proposal, submitted on Wednesday, seeks exemption from broker-dealer registration requirements for qualifying DeFi websites and mobile apps that don't pose risks targeted by existing securities laws.
This initiative follows recent White House support and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins' encouragement for DeFi growth without regulatory headwinds. The Trump administration's crypto report explicitly recommended relief for DeFi providers from broker-dealer rules. The petition argues registration is "unwarranted and inappropriate" for truly decentralized apps, proposing criteria like decentralization thresholds, user-asset control limitations, and disclosure requirements to qualify for exemption.
a16z—which has invested in DeFi projects including Uniswap and Maker—previously advocated for similar safe harbors for network tokens and NFTs in March. Chairman Atkins has concurrently launched "Project Crypto" to advance crypto-friendly policies amid ongoing congressional efforts to establish comprehensive digital asset regulations.
