DEF’s September Recap

Here’s what the DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has been up to in September 2024. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about a specific activity, please do not hesitate to reach out at contact@defieducationfund.org.

Participating in Congress’ First Ever DeFi Hearing

In early September, the House Financial Services (HFSC) Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion held Congress’ first ever DeFi-Focused hearing: "Decoding DeFi: Breaking Down the Future of Decentralized Finance.” DEF’s Chief Legal Officer, Amanda Tuminelli, testified before the committee, emphasizing DeFi’s ability to promote financial inclusion while also highlighting the challenges posed by the current untenable regulatory environment. Other witnesses included Polygon Chief Legal Officer Rebecca Rettig, Coin Center Research Director Peter Van Valkenburgh, Universal Decentralized Holdings Corporation's Chief Legal Officer Brian Avello, and Americans for Financial Freedom Senior Policy Analyst Mark Allen Hayes.

Amanda’s opening statement left the subcommittee with two main points: First, DeFi is different from, and an improvement upon, traditional finance, because it does not rely on intermediaries. And second, the existing approach of demanding that DeFi look like, function like, or be treated like traditional finance has not and will not work. Amanda explained to the committee how DeFi enables open-access, peer-to-peer transactions in which users self-custody their assets, embodying DeFi’s financial inclusion and addressing the pitfalls of traditional finance.

Furthermore, Amanda articulated to the committee why the current regulatory approach to DeFi is failing: “Existing law assumes that there is some identifiable entity that can take possession of my funds, collect information about my transaction, and even block a trade, but that entity does not exist in DeFi. The untenable position between the law as it stands and the reality of DeFi technology has led to an increasing amount of regulatory uncertainty…..That's why judges in multiple district courts across this country have called on Congress to make new rules regarding digital assets, and this chamber has supported bipartisan efforts and signaled that the status quo is not working for DeFi and digital assets.”

Notably, Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) took aim at DeFi developers during the hearing, suggesting that DeFi developers who create and deploy neutral code should be held criminally liable for the illegal actions of third parties. Amanda pushed back stating that, “I think bad actors should be held liable for the bad conduct that they engage in, not the developers, not the people who created the software. It’s the bad actors who actually committed the crime. We should go after them.” After further pushback from Rep. Casten, Amanda continued, asserting that, “if I make a neutral tool that somebody uses to commit a crime, I should not be held responsible for that person’s conduct.”

Be sure to check out Amanda’s full testimony at the link. 

Speaking at a CATO Event on Financial Privacy

On September 12,  DEF’s Miller Whitehouse-Levine spoke at an event hosted by Cato’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives: “Financial Privacy under Fire: Protecting and Restoring Americans’ Rights.”

Miller spoke on a panel on decentralization and financial privacy where he touched on, among other things, the tension between individuals' desire to transact privately and the governments' belief that the current financial surveillance regime must remain intact to achieve policy objectives. Miller was joined on his panel by Paul Bringer, Coinbase Institute, Ahmed Ghappour, Espresso Systems, Ian Meirs, University of Maryland, and Nikhilesh De, CoinDesk. 

You can watch the full event and Miller’s panel at the link.

September Financial Disclosures

We are continuing to share a more detailed look into our financial disclosures. You can find the September 2024 breakdown below. If you would like to look at our 2024 financial breakdowns, please click here. 

Donations Received
Grants
Lobbyists	$40,000
Public Relations	$7,500
Policy Litigation	$20,083
Marketing
Merchandise
Operating Expense	$7,536
Payroll and Associated Taxes	$120,970
Professional Fees	$125
Accounting	$6,150
Legal
Other Consultants
Transacting Fees	$1,373
Insurance	$5,979
Tax & Licenses
Other Overhead	$10,511

September Media

Print/Online

• Blockworks’ On the Margin: Tornado Cash dev Roman Storm to face trial, judge rules

  • Amanda Tuminelli, also representing DeFi Education Fund, added that Failla’s decision to dismiss on a “matter of law,” versus considering the factual issues, was “offensive.”

• DL News: Tornado Cash dev Roman Storm to face trial, judge rules

  • “We knew going in that the standard for this decision is extremely high and this type of motion is almost never granted, but we had hoped the judge would not accept the government’s novel theory of developer liability,” Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal officer at the DeFi Education Fund, told DL News in a statement.

“We believe the responsibility for third party criminal use of open-source software should lie with those third parties who intentionally use tools for illicit purposes, not the creator of the neutral tool.”

• The Block: Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm to face trial as US judge rejects dismissal

  • During a Sep. 26 telephonic conference, District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York denied Storm’s motion to dismiss three charges brought against him by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to DeFi Education Fund’s Chief Legal Officer Amanda Tuminelli.

• Axios Crypto: Worth your time: DeFi session in Congress

  • DeFi Education Fund attorney Amanda Tuminelli brought Smart Brevity vibes to a congressional hearing on decentralized finance this week.

What they're saying: "First, DeFi is different from and an improvement upon traditional finance, because it does not rely on intermediaries," Tuminelli told the subcommittee on digital assets on Tuesday

• Unchained: First Congressional Hearing on DeFi Highlights Divide Between Republicans and Democrat

  • Amanda Tuminelli, Chief Legal Officer of the DeFi Education Fund, was more forceful in her advocacy, repeatedly arguing that DeFi is fundamentally different from traditional finance and so required a tailored regulatory approach, rather than one-size-fits-all rules. Consumer education about the risks of DeFi should be prioritized, she said, arguing that the industry has already come up with some solutions in that vein, such as fraud and scam alerts built into frontend software.

• Blockworks: House lawmakers clash at first-ever DeFi hearing

  • Representatives heard from five witnesses: Brian Avello, chief legal officer of UDHC; Rebecca Rettig, chief legal and policy officer of Polygon Labs; Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal officer of the DeFi Education Fund; Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center; and Mark Allen Hays, senior policy analyst at Americans for Financial Reform.

• Cointelegraph: US lawmakers divided in first Congressional hearing on DeFi

  • Amanda Tuminelli, the chief legal officer at DeFi Education Fund, said in her opening statement that traditional finance “relies on intermediaries that often serve as gatekeepers to finance.”

“Big banks can and do deny access to the system for discriminatory reasons or no reasons. But DeFi is open access, anyone with an internet connection has access to a DeFi protocol and that is the epitome of financial inclusion,” she added. 

• Bloomberg Law: Crypto Groups, States Back Challenge to SEC Market Surveillance

  • In a separate filing late last week, the Blockchain Association and DeFi Education Fund told the Texas court the CAT would provide unprecedented insight into people’s blockchain transactions. Because the database connects personally identifying information with wallet addresses, anyone with access to the CAT could see all blockchain transactions a person makes, they said.

Podcasts

•  Beyond the Code: Defending DeFi: Amanda Tuminelli on the Fight for Fair Crypto Laws and Policies

  • In this episode of Beyond the Code, Yitzy sits down with ⁠Amanda Tuminelli⁠, Chief Legal Officer at the ⁠DeFi Education Fund⁠, to explore the critical legal battles shaping the future of decentralized finance. 

• Unchained Podcast: The SEC Thinks Crypto Airdrops Are Securities. Here’s Why This Lawyer Thinks It’s Wrong

  • Congressmen Tom Emmer and Patrick McHenry sent the SEC a letter demanding clarification on how crypto airdrops are securities offerings. Amanda Tuminelli of the DeFi Education Fund breaks down why she thinks the SEC is wrong on its interpretation.

• Thinking Crypto: Congress is Embracing Crypto as the SEC Attack Continues with Amanda Tuminelli

  • Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal officer at the DeFi Education Fund discusses the first Congress DeFi hearing.

• Paul Barron Network: Congress vs DeFi Experts U.S. Hearing🔥Amanda Tuminelli INTERVIEW

  • On September 11, 2024, the world’s first-ever Congressional hearing dedicated solely to DeFi, entitled “Decoding DeFi: Breaking Down the Future of Decentralized Finance”, was called by Congressman French Hill, R-AR.

• Technically Legal: From Bail Hearings to Blockchain Believer and Advocate: DeFi Education Fund’s Amanda Tuminelli (CLO)

  • Amanda Tuminelli, Chief Legal Officer for the DeFI Education Fund, discusses her crypto journey and her work with the organization. The DEF is a research and advocacy group dedicated to explaining the advantages of Decentralized Finance.  

For up-to-date information about what’s happening in D.C. and what we are up to, please follow us on Twitter @fund_defi and subscribe to our Substack.