"U.S. Crypto Firms Warn: Regulatory Clarity or Global Leadership Will Slip Away"

A coalition of 112 crypto firms, investors, and advocacy groups has called on the U.S. Senate to include explicit protections for blockchain developers and non-custodial service providers in pending market structure legislation. The letter, sent to the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees, emphasizes the need for clarity to prevent these entities from being misclassified under outdated financial regulations. The signatories, which include prominent names like Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap Labs, argue that without such safeguards, the U.S. risks losing its competitive edge in open-source development.

The letter highlights a decline in the U.S. share of open-source blockchain developers, which has dropped from 25% in 2021 to 18% in 2025. This trend is largely attributed to regulatory uncertainty, according to data from Electric Capital. The crypto industry advocates have stressed the importance of creating a legal environment that encourages innovation, citing the bipartisan support seen in the CLARITY Act. They argue that such protections are essential to prevent U.S. developers from relocating to more favorable regulatory climates and to avoid a patchwork of conflicting state laws.

Senator Cynthia Lummis has stated that a digital asset market structure bill will reach President Donald Trump’s desk before the end of the year. The bill is expected to define the roles of the SEC and CFTC in overseeing crypto markets and will likely pass through the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees by September and October, respectively. Lummis suggested that the bill could be finalized before Thanksgiving, providing much-needed clarity for the industry.

The proposed legislation is seen as critical in shaping the regulatory landscape for digital assets in the U.S. It could determine how the country competes with other global financial hubs, such as the EU, China, and Singapore, which have already begun to establish their own regulatory frameworks. For instance, the EU has passed MiCa, while China is promoting its digital yuan, and Singapore is experimenting with tokenization and sandbox environments. The U.S. is under pressure to act swiftly to ensure that its regulatory approach remains competitive and innovation-friendly.

Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers and regulators are navigating complex issues such as stablecoin oversight and the role of the CFTC in the crypto market. The recent passage of the GENIUS Act has further intensified the urgency for the EU to accelerate its digital euro plans. European policymakers are now considering whether to issue the digital euro on public blockchains like Ethereum or Solana, a shift from previous plans that favored private infrastructure. The U.S. legislation has prompted a reevaluation of strategies in the EU, as concerns grow over the dominance of dollar-backed stablecoins in cross-border transactions.

The broader implications of these developments extend beyond the U.S. and EU. If the U.S. fails to lead in setting global crypto rules, it risks becoming a rule-taker in a system it once helped to shape. The ability to export American-style financial regulation—rooted in free-market principles and innovation—could determine the long-term competitiveness of U.S. crypto firms on the global stage.

Source: [1] 112 Crypto Firms Urge Senate to Protect Developers (https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-industry-urges-senate-developer-protections-market-structure-bill) [2] Top 30 Blockchain Development Companies (https://www.designrush.com/agency/blockchain-development-companies) [3] America must shape global crypto rules | Opinion (https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2025/08/27/america-must-shape-global-crypto-rules-opinion/85823238007/) [4] U.S. Stablecoin Law Jolts EU Into Rethinking Digital Euro ... (https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/08/22/u-s-stablecoin-law-jolts-eu-into-rethinking-digital-euro-strategy-ft)