Author: Magic Tony
On June 9, 2025, Washington witnessed not just an ordinary roundtable meeting, but possibly a "paradigm shift" in U.S. financial regulatory history. The speech by the new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins was like a thunderous icebreaker, announcing that the U.S. regulatory philosophy towards decentralized finance (DeFi) is shifting from "containment" to "guidance". This is is not only a major positive for the Web3but may also trigger trigger a global regulatory race about financial innovation. This article will provide an in-of depth of this speech and offer, and provide strategic foresight for practitioners from both Chinese and global perspectives.
[The rest of the translation follows the professional and precise approach, maintaining the original tone structure and tone while translating accurately into English]Rebecca Rettig (Jito Labs): The "leading lady" of DeFi legal world, who has served as chief legal officer for top DeFi projects such as Aave and Polygon. She has extremely rich practical experience in designing compliance frameworks for decentralized protocols.
This lineup indicates that the SEC has come with sincerity, inviting the "brains" who best understand technology, law, capital, and regulation in the industry to solve problems together.
IV. Different Paths: Strategic Divergence in DeFi Regulation between China and the US
By comparing the attitudes towards DeFi in China and the US, we can clearly see two completely different strategic paths.
The United States aims to seize the high ground of future finance. The US views DeFi as an innovation wave equivalent to the early internet, with its regulatory strategy focusing on maximizing domestic innovation vitality while controlling risks, thereby ensuring the US's leadership in the next-generation global financial system. This is an offensive strategy of "embracing risks and leading innovation".
China, on the other hand, adheres to financial sovereignty and stability. China's financial system is bank-dominated, with stability being the overwhelming hard task. The borderless, high-volatility, and "financial disintermediation" characteristics of DeFi fundamentally conflict with China's national strategy of "preventing and resolving major financial risks". Therefore, China has chosen a strategy of "technology available, financial use prohibited", strictly preventing DeFi's impact on the existing financial system and firmly maintaining capital control red lines. This is a defensive strategy of "building strong defenses and seeking progress while maintaining stability".
V. Conclusion: Seizing Opportunities of the Era and Collaborating with Professionals
Chairman Atkins' speech marks a historic turning point for the Web3 industry from "wild growth" to "compliant development". For all practitioners, this is both an unprecedented opportunity and a higher requirement for strategic wisdom and compliance capabilities.
For founders and developers, what you need to build is not just disruptive technology, but a robust, globally applicable legal framework that can withstand scrutiny. True decentralization will be your most solid legal moat.
For investors and funds, policy risk reduction will release enormous market potential. However, the project's inherent risks - technology, team, and economic model - remain the core of investment decisions. Penetrating the "decentralization" narrative and identifying truly valuable targets will be key to crossing market cycles.
This regulatory paradigm shift will profoundly impact every ecosystem participant. We encourage you to forward this in-depth analysis to your partners, team members, and investors, to jointly explore and seize this historic opportunity and gain an advantage in transformation.
