On the urgency of saving our wallets

In 2024, I wrote about the delicate position of Bitcoin today. Between the lack of progress on mining centralization, the regulatory pressure and lack of support for noncustodial wallets, Bitcoin has been in a tough spot. Earlier this year, I wrote about how noncustodial wallets are critical to Bitcoin’s future and am genuinely excited for the user experience improvements we’re going to have in noncustodial wallets over the next year.

But while the development side of things continues to improve, the regulatory risks for noncustodial wallets remain. The DoJ’s Ending Regulation By Prosecution memo was a great step forward, but there’s almost no question that any actions taken today by the US executive branch will be undone by the next administration. We need a change to the law to provide the kinds of safety noncustodial wallet developers need to make wallets available in the US for the long term.

The recent re-introduction of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act would do just that. It isn’t some complicated omnibus bill rewriting tons of laws, but rather a simple, short bill that clearly and explicitly exempts only noncustodial wallets from the Money Transmission Business regulations that don’t make any sense applied to noncustodial wallets anyway.

Because getting this passed is absolutely critical to Bitcoin’s future, we’re launching a campaign to get it in front of more members of congress called the Save Our Wallets campaign. Americans who care about the future of Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency need to make their voice heard on this one. Getting it passed this congress may well be make or break for everything from noncustodial Bitcoin wallets to defi frontends.

Even non-americans should watch this closely, as many jurisdictions around the world follow US regulatory activity and make their own regulation in regards to the US. Further, the US has many developers who we want building noncustodial wallets, but without clarity that carries risk many developers don’t want to take. Sharing or promoting saveourwallets.org on social media or to americans is critical for the future of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency globally.