Safeguarding DeFi's Infrastructure Builders

Welcome to Crypto Long & Short, our institutional newsletter. This week, we focus on the need to safeguard the individuals building DeFi infrastructure. Jennifer Rosenthal, chief communications officer at the DeFi Education Fund, emphasizes the importance of protecting these developers, citing the introduction of the bipartisan Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act of 2026. This act aims to clarify the legal status of software developers in the DeFi space. Meanwhile, Alexis Sirkia, chairman and co-founder of Yellow Network, discusses Ethereum's scaling issues, arguing that the rollup model was flawed from the start, as it addressed congestion rather than the actual constraint of value movement between participants. He suggests that state channels could provide a more effective solution by allowing peer-to-peer transactions off-chain. The newsletter also covers recent market headlines, including the impact of smart contract exploits on the market and the shift of crypto derivatives volume into regulated venues.