Hey everyone! After looking back through feedback in the forums, I saw that many of you wanted an easier place to view DEF financial disclosures. I’m here for y’all, and I excited to share that starting this past May, DEF will be making it even easier to view financial disclosures on our website and in a simpler format. These disclosures will provide the community with a more detailed view of how we are spending our funds. You can find them by going to our webpage and clicking on “Financial Information” on the “About” page.
I am looking forward to getting to know more of y’all in the community and responding to any feedback you might have. Feel free to reach out to me on telegram @nathanhennigh or on X. I’d also be happy to set up a call with anyone to get to know more of the Uniswap community and hear how we can be helpful.
Hey all! It’s Nathan again! I’ve got two things to share:
MASSIVE win for DeFi: DEF recently acquired a patent covering oracle technology that could have led to a de facto ban on crypto in the US. DEF has since dedicated the patent to the public, as no one should be able to claim ownership over oracle technology.
Community Call Reminder: I’m here once again to invite you to our community call next Tuesday, August 27, at 12 PM Central Time. Come hang out, ask your questions, and hear more about the patent acquisition and other updates from Miller! Can’t wait to see you there!
Hey all! Just dropping in again to remind everyone that our community call will be next Tuesday, September 24th, 12 PM Central Time! Excited to see yall there! http://meet.google.com/kjb-tgss-skw
Gm gm! Happy Friday! We’re excited to make it easier for you to stay updated on DEF and the latest in the DeFi policy/regulatory space. We’ve launched a Telegram channel that will keep you in the loop with quick, super TLDRs of what’s happening. Please join and feel free to share it with others! https://t.me/defnewss
Today, the DeFi Education Fund (DEF) would like to share that after three years of tremendous leadership Miller Whitehouse-Levine will be stepping down as CEO, and Amanda Tuminelli will become our new Executive Director. Amanda will also remain DEF’s Chief Legal Officer. This change will be effective March 17, 2025.
We are deeply grateful for Miller’s service and all he has done to advance our mission, and we are thrilled to have Amanda take the reins and lead DEF into an exciting new chapter of growth and impact.
For more information about this announcement check out our blog at the link below.
My understanding is this was the execution of the affirmative vote of the revised proposal
UF advocacy Spend
The recent UF 2025-27 fiscal expenditure wanted funds to cover
I can’t find a specific budget line item so cannot estimate the hours involved. However, this seems to switch to in-sourcing rather than collective burden-sharing
Substitute or Supplement?
3 questions come to mind
Has DEF delivered (speaking on contractual basis) what it originally promised?
Is UF now stepping forward to substitute for DEF?
What are fiscal implications … eg claw back double dipping into a contingent reserve (contestible). This is a supplement but held within the (future) treasury as cookie jar for legal activities.
=============
Addenda
Some concerns which were previously raised and could be re-examined (benefits, anchor, risk migration)
Our work is complementary to what the DEF does, not a substitute for it. We engage with the DEF frequently to share learnings and not do redundant work. They have built a team, network, and expertise that allows them to focus intensely on policy and advocacy work for Uniswap and defi broadly. It is helpful fro the UF, as the Foundation supporting one of the largest protocols, with direct experience supporting developers and delegates, to provide our knowledge to policymakers and others in DC. While our contributions are valuable, the DEF plays a distinct and important role in advancing Uniswap’s interests through their specialized efforts.
I want to flag that on Friday (3/28/25), DEF submitted an amicus brief in support of Jim Harper’s petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court in Harper v. Werfel. Harper’s case challenges the IRS’s warrantless acquisition of digital asset transaction records from Coinbase through a “John Doe” summons, raising critical questions about whether individuals retain their Fourth Amendment right to privacy in financial data shared with third-party platforms.
Yesterday, April 7, 2025, the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released a memorandum for all department employees titled “Ending Regulation by Prosecution” for the digital asset industry. In this memo, the DAG makes clear that the era of regulation by prosecution is over, emphasizing that “The Department of Justice is not a digital assets regulator.”
Today DEF published a blog post on what it all means. Check it out at the link below:
Happy Wednesday! I also want to flag that on Monday, DEF sent a letter on behalf of leaders across the crypto industry sent a letter to the White House & David Sacks expressing concerns about the DOJ’s “extraordinary, lawless reinterpretation of federal money transmission licensing statutes to criminalize innovation in software development.”
You can learn more about the letter at the link below:
I note at this point the 2-3 legislative juggling Acts that will be of concern to LPs
the GENIUS / STABLE stablecoin legislation … at the moment it looks like only 1:1 fiat or over-collaterised asset-backed schemes will be brought into the regulatory perimeter including Bank Secrecy Act provisions. Discussing with my learned colleagues, our conclusion is that they are shaping up stables to vaguely compete with the offshore eurodollar markets. There may be unanticipated reporting if stables are used as one of the pools [TBA].
The Crypto fund which is an accounting “trick” which revalues Fed gold (whatever’s left) and the certified difference put on the Treasury books to acquire crypto (avoiding congressional approval). In theory, if they have regular purchases, it might denote an official USD to ETH conversion or more strictly speaking, price support. There are some interesting “plays” to index against such
Of more troublesome is academic support for a CBDC to “fix” some of the non-finalisation risks in the ACH mechanism. I don’t see this getting traction but it hints to a future non-zero risk premium on US denominated bonds which need to be noted by future DAO treasury.
Gm! I want to flag that on April 28, DEF launched a petition calling on the Trump administration to END the lawless prosecution of software developers in the U.S.
As we see it, we have a real opportunity to shift course from the Biden-era DOJ’s criminalization of open-source software development, but we must act swiftly to present a unified DeFi voice to those in gov’t leadership roles to reinforce why this issue is of the utmost importance to the future of financial innovation in the United States.