Solana Institute CEO Kristin Smith is urging the US Senate to pass the CLARITY Crypto Market Structure Act with developer protections intact, arguing that open source developers and blockchain infrastructure providers should not be regulated as financial intermediaries.

In a thread on social media platform X, Smith stated that the market structure legislation “has a real chance of passing the Senate,” making it extremely significant for lawmakers to maintain protections for software developers.

Source: Christina Smith on X.com

Smith said more than 60 cryptocurrency CEOs and founders, including Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, have signed an open letter urging the Senate to maintain strong developer protections in the CLARITY Act.

She said open source developers, validators and wallet providers do not control users’ funds or execute transactions and therefore should not be treated as brokers or custodians.

Smith pointed to the Blockchain Regulatory Surety Act (BRCA), which would provide legal certainty for non-controlling software developers and blockchain infrastructure providers that do not hold customer assets or control transactions.

Introduced in January by Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden, the bipartisan BRCA aims to prevent open source software developers from being classified as “money transmitters” simply for publishing software code.

The CLARITY Act was approved by the Senate Banking Committee in May and was recently placed on the Senate legislative calendar, setting the stage for a possible vote in tardy summer.

Related: The CLARITY Act will assist rebuild the US crypto industry, says lawyer

He echoes SEC Commissioner Peirce’s calls to protect developers

Smith’s comments echo recent comments by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce, who argued last week that publishing open-source blockchain code constitutes protected speech and that developers should not be treated as financial intermediaries just because others employ their software.

Speaking at Princeton University’s IC3 Blockchain Camp, Peirce said that “many blockchain projects involve publishing open source software, which is generally protected activity under the First Amendment.”

Source: CoinMarketCap on X.com

The SEC’s mandate for digital assets has evolved significantly under current Chairman Paul Atkins, who has promised to end the agency’s “regulation through enforcement” approach to the industry.

Related: US lawmakers oppose the Department of Labor’s plans to include cryptocurrencies in Art. 401(k).