Jake is spot on here, and it shouldn’t be lost that *if* we push developers and DeFi protocols offshore, that impedes our collective goals of stifling illicit finance (which is substantially less than in opaque tradfi systems). The best outcome is a world where developers are welcome and can collaborate with LE and NatSec communities.
Good policy outcomes should be driven by (i) reasonable disclosure regimes, (ii) licensing for intermediaries that is purpose built and does not bury parties under compliance costs, and (iii) a desire for these systems to be built here.
You get that through what Paul Atkins described last July as the “minimum effective dose of regulation necessary to protect investors while allowing entrepreneurs and businesses to flourish.”
The output of that scenario is not only consumer protection; it also promotes interactions between LE and NatSec with the builders, ensuring that our government understands, can analyze and can even incorporate this tech stack to promote good markets and mitigate bad actors. Everyone should want that.
I share his red line that we must protect developers and allow DeFi a path to be built and used here in America.
