More than 60 crypto industry leaders, including top executives from Coinbase and Kraken, signed an open letter on June 9 urging the Senate to pass a provision that would fundamentally change how US law treats blockchain developers. The target: getting the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, or BRCA, included in the broader Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before it reaches the Senate floor.
The letter was addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Its core argument is straightforward: if you build non-custodial blockchain software and never touch user funds, you shouldn’t be regulated like someone who does.
What the BRCA actually does
Under the Bank Secrecy Act, money transmitters face compliance requirements including licensing, anti-money laundering protocols, and know-your-customer procedures. The BRCA clarifies that developers who create non-custodial blockchain technology, meaning software where they never have control over user funds, are not money transmitters. The act codifies guidance previously provided by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which states that only those who exert control over customer assets are deemed money transmitters.
The act also extends its protections to open-source software development more broadly.
The long road through Congress
The BRCA is not new. Rep. Tom Emmer first introduced it in 2018, and the bill has been reintroduced multiple times since then, with its most recent version arriving on May 21, 2025.
The broader Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which houses the BRCA as Section 604, passed the House in July 2025 with a vote of 294 to 134. The Senate Banking Committee then advanced the measure with a 15-9 vote on May 14, 2026, with bipartisan support.
The June 9 letter from crypto CEOs represents the industry’s attempt to keep that momentum going. Industry coalitions had already issued joint statements throughout 2025 supporting the BRCA’s inclusion in market structure legislation. The signatories argued that the protections outlined in the BRCA are essential for fostering innovation within the US crypto ecosystem.
Why this matters for the market
The BRCA addresses a foundational question: who counts as a financial intermediary? For DeFi specifically, decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and automated market makers are all built on the premise that no single entity controls the system. If the developers who deploy these protocols are classified as money transmitters, the entire decentralized model faces an existential legal problem. The BRCA would resolve that problem by statute rather than leaving it to enforcement discretion.
Companies that build non-custodial infrastructure, including wallet providers, node operators, and protocol developers, stand to benefit most directly. If the BRCA passes as part of the Clarity Act, these firms would operate with a defined legal status for the first time.