SEC Hosts DeFi Roundtable June 9 to Foster Innovation and Protect Investors

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced its upcoming roundtable, titled “DeFi and the American Spirit,” scheduled for June 9 at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. This event, organized by the agency’s Crypto Task Force, is the fifth in a series aimed at exploring regulatory approaches to digital assets, with a specific focus on the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

The roundtable will span approximately four hours, beginning with opening remarks from SEC officials, including Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce, who also leads the Task Force. Both Atkins and Peirce have previously emphasized the need for a regulatory environment that fosters DeFi innovation while ensuring investor protections.

The main discussion, moderated by former SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes, will delve into how DeFi platforms embody core American values such as autonomy, open participation, and market-driven innovation. The panel will feature thought leaders from academia, legal circles, and the blockchain industry. Topics of discussion will include the potential for peer-to-peer protocols to operate without intermediaries, the challenges of regulating smart contracts, and the risks and benefits of decentralized governance.

The event is open to the public and will be live-streamed on the SEC’s website. While virtual attendance does not require registration, in-person attendees must register in advance. This roundtable is part of the SEC’s ongoing initiative, “Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity,” launched in March 2025 to gather industry feedback and inform regulatory policy. Previous sessions have covered topics such as the qualification of digital assets as securities, regulation of crypto trading platforms, custody of digital assets, and the tokenization of traditional financial instruments.

Each roundtable has assembled legal scholars, technologists, and financial professionals to examine the intersection of existing regulations with emerging blockchain models. The upcoming DeFi roundtable is anticipated to be particularly significant, as it will explore the integration of DeFi into the American regulatory framework while preserving its principles of openness and autonomy.