Blockchain lobby presses Congress on developer shield

TLDR

U.S. crypto industry groups are pushing Congress to give non-custodial blockchain developers a clear legal shield in upcoming crypto bills.

1. The Blockchain Association is lobbying senators to keep the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) language that says open-source developers who do not hold user funds are not financial intermediaries.
2. A separate House bill, the Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act of 2026, would narrow federal criminal liability so Section 1960 targets only entities that actually control customer assets.
3. These efforts feed into a broader market structure package and the CLARITY Act talks, where final wording will determine how safe DeFi and infrastructure builders feel operating in the United States.

Deep Dive

1. What The Lobby Is Asking For

The Blockchain Association is urging Congress to preserve BRCA language in the draft crypto market structure bill, arguing that developers who only publish open-source code should not be regulated as money transmitters or banks. The group says DeFi protocol coders and public blockchain infrastructure providers that do not custody assets must be treated differently from exchanges and custodial wallets, warning that overly broad rules could push DeFi protocols out of existence in the United States. These positions are laid out in a recent Bitcoinist summary of the Associations outreach, which notes meetings with 24 Senate offices.

2. How The Developer Shield Would Work

In the House, the Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act of 2026 would clarify that Section 1960 of the federal criminal code, originally written for unlicensed money transmitters, applies only to actors that control customer funds. Open-source, non-custodial developers would be explicitly excluded from that classification, according to coverage of the bills text and intent in Tokenposts analysis of U.S. blockchain regulation. This is meant to reduce the risk that simply writing or publishing code could be treated like running an unlicensed remittance business.

3. What To Watch Next In Washington

The lobbying push lands as legislators negotiate a broader crypto market structure bill and the White House tied CLARITY Act timelines to a March 1 deadline, with Senate Democrats huddling on digital asset rules. Reports note that industry wants the BRCA style definition, and the Section 1960 clarification, folded into that package, while some lawmakers focus on tougher penalties for fraud and better consumer protection. The eventual compromise will decide how wide the developer shield is, for example whether it covers front ends, governance participants, or only pure protocol code.

Conclusion

Crypto lobbyists are not asking to exempt everything from regulation, but to draw a bright line between code and custody. For crypto users and builders, the key question is whether Congress adopts that distinction in law or leaves developers exposed to money transmitter and criminal liability risk.