Several cryptocurrency groups have criticized Citadel Securities for urging the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to impose tighter controls on decentralized finance (DeFi) systems dealing with tokenized stocks.
Citadel had previously asked the SEC not to give DeFi platforms special permission to trade digital versions of US equities.
The firm argued that these platforms could fall under definitions such as “exchange” or “broker-dealer” and should therefore meet the same registration requirements as traditional financial firms.
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In response, organizations including Andreessen Horowitz, the Uniswap
The group claimed the company’s position would extend registration rules to almost any party involved in a DeFi transaction, even if their role was minimal.
They acknowledged that protecting investors and maintaining fair markets are important goals. However, they argued that these goals do not always require platforms to operate under traditional SEC registration.
They said that well-designed blockchain-based markets can meet the same standards of fairness and safety without the need for centralized intermediaries.
Furthermore, the group rejected Citadel’s claim that autonomous software acts as a financial “middleman”. They wrote that computer code cannot play such a role because it has no independent judgment or decision-making power.
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