{"id":98766,"date":"2026-06-05T18:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=98766"},"modified":"2026-06-05T18:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:33:08","slug":"secs-crypto-advocate-says-blockchain-code-is-protected-by-the-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=98766","title":{"rendered":"SEC\u2019s Crypto Advocate Says Blockchain Code Is Protected By The Constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A federal securities regulator is drawing a line between writing blockchain code and being responsible for how that code gets used \u2014 and the distinction could reshape how the government treats software developers in the decentralized finance space.<\/p>\n

Broader Regulatory Shift Behind The Remarks<\/h2>\n

Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, made the case<\/a> Tuesday at the IC3 Blockchain Camp at Princeton University that publishing open-source blockchain software is a protected activity under the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

She argued that developers who release DeFi code<\/a> should not be automatically classified as securities intermediaries just because other people use what they built.<\/p>\n

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LATEST: \"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\" SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce says securities rules shouldn\u2019t apply to blockchains themselves, noting \u201cblockchains are used to do many things other than transact in securities.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/hztB7r72ap<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) June 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Legal liability, she said, should fall on those who actually engage in unlawful conduct \u2014 not on the people who wrote the underlying tools.<\/p>\n

Peirce\u2019s remarks fit into a wider rethinking underway at the SEC since Chair Paul Atkins took the helm.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The agency has been pulling back from what Atkins has described as regulation by enforcement, with its Crypto Task Force now reviewing how existing securities laws apply to digital assets and decentralized systems.<\/p>\n

Peirce, a long-standing voice for clearer rules in the crypto<\/a> space, has been central to that push.<\/p>\n

Rules Built For A Different World<\/h2>\n

She pointed to the SEC\u2019s rulebook<\/a> as evidence of the problem. The agency\u2019s regulations were designed around intermediaries \u2014 brokers, dealers, exchanges, clearinghouses, transfer agents, investment advisers, and investment companies.<\/p>\n

Peirce questioned whether those same rules make sense when applied to distributed blockchain networks that exist for purposes well beyond securities transactions.<\/p>\n

Her comments came weeks after SEC staff issued separate guidance addressing broker-dealer registration requirements for certain user interfaces.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That guidance indicated some front-end websites and software platforms that provide access to decentralized protocols may not qualify as brokers under the traditional legal definition \u2014 a signal that the agency is rethinking how far its existing categories can stretch.<\/p>\n

Digital Assets As Long-Term Priority<\/p>\n

The SEC has also signaled that crypto and blockchain technology will remain a focus for years ahead. In its draft Strategic Plan through fiscal 2030, the agency described blockchain and crypto assets as technologies with the potential to reshape America\u2019s financial infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Taken together, the staff guidance, the strategic plan, and Peirce\u2019s speech at Princeton paint a picture of an agency trying to redraw boundaries that were never clearly set.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal securities regulator is drawing a line between writing blockchain code and being responsible for how that code gets used \u2014 and the distinction could reshape how the government treats software developers in the decentralized finance space. Broader Regulatory Shift Behind The Remarks Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-98766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}