Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, outlines principles to guide legislation and regulation on issues like self-custody, staking, voting, and peer-to-peer transactions on permissionless networks.
Jan 31, 2025, 9:13 p.m. UTC
The digital asset industry stands at a critical, hopeful juncture.
After years of fragmented approaches to regulation and legislation, we’ve reached a moment where clarity is both urgent and achievable. Blockchain Association’s consensus-driven market structure principles, which represent the perspective of the leading companies in the industry, offer a framework for the path forward. The market structure principles that emerged from this collaborative effort reflect the maturation of the industry and the focus required to enact meaningful legislation and achieve smart regulation.
The principles tackle twelve key areas – at their core is a recognition that consumer protection and innovation are complementary, not competing, priorities. We call for standardized disclosures and robust safeguards while ensuring businesses can innovate without undue burden. This balanced approach extends to custody, where we advocate protecting individuals’ right to self-custody their assets while establishing clear frameworks for institutional custody solutions.
A crucial element of our framework is the distinction between financial activities and other, varied applications of blockchain technology. Smart regulation must focus on genuine financial risks without stifling innovation in non-financial uses of this technology. This extends to the treatment of non-custodial software, services, and smart contracts, which shouldn’t face the same regulatory requirements as traditional financial intermediaries when they don’t custody user assets.
The principles also address one of the industry’s most pressing challenges: token classification. We need clear frameworks for distinguishing between securities, commodities, and other digital assets. This clarity is essential for compliance and growth, particularly as the market matures and new types of tokens emerge.
Our framework recognizes the global nature of digital assets while emphasizing and strengthening U.S. competitiveness. We advocate for reducing friction in cross-border transactions while ensuring U.S. markets remain attractive for investment and innovation. This includes establishing a single secondary trading market to enhance liquidity and price discovery.
Developer protections form another crucial pillar of Blockchain Association’s principles. Open-source software developers shouldn’t face liability when independent actors misuse their code. This protection is essential for maintaining the innovation that drives our industry forward. Similarly, we emphasize the importance of network participation – protecting the ability of individuals and institutions to engage in activities like staking, voting, and peer-to-peer transactions on permissionless networks.
This consensus we’ve achieved on these principles matters because it signals to Congress and regulators that the industry is and has been ready for common sense regulation. We’re not asking for special treatment or regulatory carve-outs. Instead, we’re proposing clear rules of the road that protect consumers, foster innovation, and ensure U.S. competitiveness in a rapidly evolving global market.
But this window of opportunity won’t remain open indefinitely. Market developments, election cycles, and global competition create urgency for action. The industry has demonstrated its readiness to engage constructively with policymakers. We’ve shown that we can find common ground on complex issues and that we’re committed to responsible innovation.
For our Congressional allies, regulators in Washington D.C., and those newly engaging with these issues, these principles demonstrate that the industry is ready for serious policy discussion. For industry participants, they represent a shared vision of responsible market structure. For everyone involved, they offer a path forward at a crucial moment for the future of digital assets in the United States.
The work of enacting smart regulations and drafting and passing legislation remains ahead. But with clear principles, industry alignment, and growing policy sophistication on both sides, we have an unprecedented opportunity to get this right. We have precious few months to get this done, let’s not let this moment pass.
Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.
Kristin Smith
Kristin Smith is the Executive Director of the Blockchain Association, the Washington DC-based trade association representing the most prominent and reputable organizations in the crypto industry. Kristin serves as a liaison between federal agencies and the cryptocurrency industry to assist in the creation of legislation that promotes the growth of the cryptocurrency ecosystem in the U.S.
