Senators Seek End to Developer Exemptions in Crypto Bill

Crypto News Regulation

Senators Grassley and Durbin Push to Scrap Developer Exemptions in Crypto Law

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: January 19, 2026

Key Takeaways

Grassley and Durbin urged removing developer exemptions from the draft crypto bill by citing risks to crime enforcement;
Lawmakers warned that exempting software developers could weaken tools to fight money laundering and organized crime;
Coinbase criticized the draft bill, arguing its restrictions on DeFi, tokenized stocks, and yields would harm innovation.

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Senators Grassley and Durbin Push to Scrap Developer Exemptions in Crypto Law

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US Senate Judiciary Committee leaders Charles Grassley and Richard Durbin sent a letter dated January 14 to Banking Committee chair Tim Scott and ranking member Elizabeth Warren.

The letter called for removing developer exemptions from a draft crypto market structure bill.

The provision in question concerns a section of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. This section would confirm that activities like writing software or running decentralized networks do not fall under federal or state money transmission rules.

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Grassley and Durbin warned that this could create enforcement difficulties for decentralized digital asset platforms, which could potentially make it harder to stop crimes such as money laundering or organized crime.

They also stated their committees had not been included in discussions about this proposal.

The letter raised worries that the proposed language could make it harder for prosecutors to address financial crime involving digital assets. The National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys also expressed similar worries about limiting prosecution tools.

The draft bill, which includes elements from the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, has drawn criticism from crypto industry advocates.

Coinbase $1.46B recently cited issues with the ban on tokenized stocks, restrictions on decentralized finance products, stablecoin yield limits, and the amount of regulatory requirements it imposes.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called the current proposal "worse than nothing" and argued it would create more problems than it solves.

Recently, Anthony Scaramucci, head of SkyBridge Capital, criticized new US rules that block interest payments on stablecoins. What did he say? Read the full story.