Crypto advocacy group Coin Center has written to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, urging lawmakers to move forward with legislation designed to shield well-meaning crypto developers from prosecution.
The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) was originally introduced in September 2018 by Representative Tom Emmer. A revised version was drafted last month by Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden, aiming to clarify that software developers and blockchain infrastructure providers who do not take custody of user funds should not be classified as money transmitters under federal law.
In a letter shared Tuesday, Coin Center policy director Jason Somensatto told the Senate Banking Committee that blockchain innovation cannot flourish in the United States if developers are continually threatened with legal action, arguing they should receive the same legal protections afforded to traditional internet developers.
He said the activities in question are no different from those routinely carried out by internet service providers, cloud hosting platforms, router manufacturers, browser developers, and email services. He added that authorities do not threaten those companies with prison when criminals misuse the internet to send emails, route data, or upload files.
“The same principle must apply to blockchain developers.”
Somensatto said the BRCA would help ensure that “the next Satoshi Nakamoto, Vitalik Buterin, or Hayden Adams can build the kinds of systems that a market structure bill seeks to support and safeguard.”
Coin Center is a Washington, DC–based nonprofit think tank and advocacy group focused on public policy issues surrounding cryptocurrency and decentralized technologies.
The organization’s renewed call for developer protections — which aligns with the CLARITY Act — comes after several prominent crypto developers were convicted in the United States last year. Among them were Roman Storm, a developer of Tornado Cash, and Keonne Rodriguez and Will Lonergan Hill, founders of Samourai Wallet. All three were convicted in 2025 of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Rodriguez received a five-year prison sentence, while Hill was sentenced to four years in November. Storm is still awaiting sentencing.
The Senate Banking Committee is continuing to review the latest draft of the BRCA, which has not yet been marked up or brought to a vote. Somensatto warned that stripping out or diluting key provisions of the bill would create legal uncertainty for crypto developers, potentially discouraging legitimate builders from operating in the United States and driving innovation overseas.
