Solana Institute CEO says CLARITY Act must shield open-source developers

Solana Institute CEO Kristin Smith is urging the US Senate to pass the CLARITY crypto market structure bill with developer protections intact, arguing that open-source developers and blockchain infrastructure providers should not be regulated as financial intermediaries.

In a thread on the X social media platform, Smith said the market structure legislation “has a real shot at passing the Senate,” making it critical for lawmakers to preserve protections for software developers.

Source: Kristin Smith on X.com

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 said 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), which 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.

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.

Related: CLARITY Act will help reshore US crypto industry, attorney says

Echoes SEC commissioner Peirce's calls for developer protections

Smith’s comments echo recent remarks by US Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner (SEC) Hester Peirce, who argued 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.”

Source: CoinMarketCap on X.com

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. 

Related: US lawmakers push back on Labor Department plans to include crypto in 401(k)s