{"id":524161,"date":"2025-12-04T13:36:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crypto-news-flash.com\/?p=1236026"},"modified":"2025-12-04T13:36:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:36:31","slug":"uniswap-founder-defends-defi-as-citadel-pressures-sec-for-tighter-protocol-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/04\/uniswap-founder-defends-defi-as-citadel-pressures-sec-for-tighter-protocol-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Uniswap Founder Defends DeFi as Citadel Pressures SEC for Tighter Protocol Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"eth-editorial-banner\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"eth-editorial-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news-flash.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cnf2-scaled-1-1-1.png\" alt=\"Crypto News Flash\"> <span class=\"eth-editorial-text\">All news is rigorously fact-checked and reviewed by leading blockchain experts and seasoned industry insiders.<\/span> <\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span id=\"input-sentence~0\">Citadel pressed the SEC for tighter oversight on DeFi platforms trading tokenized securities, citing unequal rules.<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><span id=\"input-sentence~1\">Crypto figures fire back, arguing Citadel seeks to shield its profits while stricter rules may push innovation away.<\/span><\/strong><br \/><span id=\"input-sentence~10\"><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p><span id=\"input-sentence~2\">Citadel Securities has urged the U.S. SEC to impose tighter rules on decentralized finance protocols trading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news-flash.com\/what-is-tokenisation-a-complete-asset-digitalisation-guide\/\">tokenized<\/a> securities. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/files\/citadel-securities-120225.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a>, the firm requested that all intermediaries be clearly identified, including decentralized trading platforms. The letter argued that giving broad exemptions to these platforms could fracture the regulatory approach to securities trading.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"input-sentence~3\">According to the statement, allowing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news-flash.com\/what-are-defi-a-complete-guide-to-decentralized-finance\/\">DeFi<\/a> protocols to operate under different rules \u201cwould create two separate regulatory regimes for the trading of the same security.\u201d Citadel warned that such leniency would contradict the technology-neutral standards outlined by the Exchange Act. The company insists that fairness requires the same treatment across platforms, regardless of the underlying technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"input-sentence~4\">The firm also pointed out that many DeFi platforms function like exchanges. By using algorithms to connect buyers and sellers, they meet regulatory definitions.<\/span><span id=\"aidr-input-non-human-chunk\"><\/span> It also pointed to apps, wallet providers, and automated market makers that receive transaction based compensation. The letter added,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cRealizing the potential benefits of tokenization requires applying the key bedrock principles and investor protections that underpin the fairness, efficiency, and resiliency of U.S. equity markets.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1236035\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1236035\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1236035 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news-flash.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEC-letter-1.jpg\" alt=\"Uniswap Founder Defends DeFi as Citadel Pressures SEC for Tighter Protocol Rules\" width=\"700\" height=\"447\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1236035\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Sec.gov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong><span id=\"input-sentence~7\">Uniswap Founder Pushes Back on Citadel\u2019s claims<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Uniswap founder Hayden Adams publicly condemned Citadel\u2019s push. Reacting on X, Adams accused its CEO Ken Griffin of pushing anti-DeFi policies for years. He stated,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe actual nerve for one of their arguments to be that there is no way for DeFi protocols to provide \u2018fair access\u2019 of all things.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Adams further suggested that the real issue for traditional market makers like Citadel is the threat DeFi poses to their profit model. \u201cMakes sense the king of shady TradFi market makers doesn\u2019t like open source, peer-to-peer tech that can lower the barrier to liquidity creation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">First Ken Griffin screwed over Constitution DAO <\/p>\n<p>Now he&#8217;s coming for DeFi, asking the SEC to treat software developers of decentralized protocols like centralized intermediaries <\/p>\n<p>Bet Citadel has been lobbying behind closed doors on this for years<\/p>\n<p>Okay thats all pretty bad, but\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ExoNhbhadu\">pic.twitter.com\/ExoNhbhadu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Hayden Adams \ud83e\udd84 (@haydenzadams) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/haydenzadams\/status\/1996423513251459417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">December 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span id=\"input-sentence~8\">Others in the crypto field echoed Adams\u2019 concerns. A policy analyst \u201cBlockProf\u201d commented that Citadel\u2019s letter appeared to adopt arguments previously made by SEC Chair Gary Gensler. \u201cCitadel just declared war on project crypto,\u201d the analyst wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"input-sentence~9\">Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, also criticized the letter. She advised the SEC to reject what she described as an \u201coverbroad and unworkable\u201d approach proposed by Citadel. She argued that its interpretation does not align wit the core principles of the Exchange Act.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"input-sentence~10\">Mersinger stressed that if software developers are treated as financial institutions, innovation may shift to other countries while investor protection gains nothing. She stated,<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span id=\"input-sentence~10\">\u201c[Citadel\u2019s] interpretation has no grounding in the Exchange Act, decades of Commission practice, judicial precedent, or the commonsense distinction between those who build software and those who custody assets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In early 2025, Citadel Securities reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news-flash.com\/citadel-securities-expands-into-crypto\/\">began planning<\/a> to act as a liquidity provider for cryptocurrencies. The firm aimed to provide liquidity on major exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance and Crypto.com, which initially focusing on non-US markets pending regulatory clarity. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news-flash.com\/ripple-secures-500m-investment-at-40b-valuation-led-by-fortress-and-citadel-securities\/\">we reported, <\/a>the firm also helped lead a US$500 million strategic investment round in Ripple.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news-flash.com\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All news is rigorously fact-checked and reviewed by leading blockchain experts and seasoned industry insiders. Citadel pressed the SEC for tighter oversight on DeFi platforms trading tokenized securities, citing unequal rules. Crypto figures fire back, arguing Citadel seeks to shield its profits while stricter rules may push innovation away. Citadel Securities has urged the U.S. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":524162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[4600,2807,25,21],"class_list":{"0":"post-524161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-other","8":"tag-citadel","9":"tag-decentralized-finance-defi","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-uniswap"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-bitco.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}