Overview
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will host a closed-door session with executives from Coinbase, Chainlink, Ripple, Uniswap, Galaxy Digital, Kraken, Circle and others.
- Talks follow a leaked Democratic DeFi draft that drew sharp criticism from industry groups and Republicans, with Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong calling it a nonstarter.
- Key fault lines include whether DeFi front ends and protocol contributors face AML/KYC-style obligations and how authority is split between the SEC and CFTC.
- Industry coalitions have urged lawmakers to adopt bright-line token definitions, warning that the leaked framework could effectively ban DeFi and wallets in the U.S.
- No immediate legislative text is expected, and with Republicans stepping back from negotiations, prediction markets now peg end-2025 passage odds near 17%.