Developers are watching whether regulators distinguish writing software from running a financial intermediary. Cathy Yoon, chief legal officer at Solana-focused research and development firm Temporal, said she hopes the SEC will recognize developers as software creators without turning their work into a securities enterprise.

“The fact that the SEC staff is even willing to say these things explicitly is a win,” Yoon said, while noting staff FAQs are not SEC rules.

Michael Lie, global head of digital assets at market maker Flow Traders, said he sees comprehensive regulation as inevitable as finance moves toward 24/7 trading. He is watching innovation exemptions and changes to transfer-agent rules, with European and Asian regimes…