a16z and DeFi Education Fund Advocate for SEC Safe Harbor for DEX and Crypto Wallet Developers

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and the DeFi Education Fund have formally requested the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish a safe harbor provision. This WOULD protect developers of decentralized applications (dapps) from being classified as broker-dealers under securities laws.

The proposal targets entities that maintain control over crypto applications but demonstrate "good faith to decentralize." It aims to exempt decentralized exchanges (DEXs), self-custodial wallets, and NFT marketplace protocols from SEC oversight—even if they facilitate trading of tokenized securities.

The MOVE aligns with SEC Chair Paul Atkins' "Project Crypto," which seeks to delineate regulatory boundaries for crypto projects. Market participants view this as a pivotal step toward regulatory clarity for decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure.