She left to head up the new Solana Policy Institute, or SPI, but retained her position as president of the association’s board. Smith takes the place of Summer Mersinger, who leaves her post on October 16. Mersinger will stay on as an advisor through the end of the year to help with the handoff, the group said. Smith won’t resign from the SPI post. Smith’s work at the institute doesn’t change, and the association duties are in addition, said the institute’s communications director, Emily Wilson.

Kirsten Smith to take up the role from October 17

A spokesman for the association confirmed the same arrangement. The shift occurred about a week after the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act. The bill was the industry’s endeavor to enact a comprehensive market structure law. Cryptopolitan reported that the vote to end debate on September 15 failed 49 to 50, 11 votes short of the 60 needed. Four Republicans voted no, and no Democrat voted yes.

Coin Center policy head Jason Somensatto called the removal of explicit criminal-liability protection for software developers under 18 U.S.C. 1960 from a last-minute rewrite “deeply disappointing.” Eighteen state attorneys general, led by New York’s Letitia James, cautioned that the measure could undermine state fraud enforcement. “I’m proud of how far we’ve come together, from the GENIUS Act to real regulatory clarity at the SEC and CFTC,” Mersinger said in a statement.

She added that Smith “built this association from the ground up.” Mersinger joined the group in June 2025 after serving as a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Then-President Joe Biden nominated her to a Republican seat, and she was sworn in in March 2022. Her tenure encompassed the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin framework signed into law in July 2025 by President Trump.

The group, by its own count, held more than 300 meetings with congressional and agency staff in 2026 and conducted seven-member fly-ins to Capitol Hill. Mersinger testified before the Senate Banking Committee, the House Financial Services Committee, and a House Ways and Means subcommittee. “Summer took the helm of Blockchain Association at the most consequential moment in the history of crypto policy, and she met it,” Smith said. She called the return “personal for me.”

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Platforms such as Uniswap, which oversees buying and selling through smart contracts would be included in the scope, posing a serious challenge to the industry. The regulation would stifle innovation and push companies abroad to find better regulations. With the deadline swiftly approaching, Galaxy Digital Head of Research Alex Thorn has mentioned possible paths to navigate the rules if they are not reversed.

Total compliance or blocking US-based users

The first option will be for platforms to comply with the directive, ordering users to do KYC and begin transaction reporting. However, it will be hard for some platforms because they are controlled by decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Coupled with leaving their upgradeable smart contracts, it will be hard for them to initiate the changes. This means that users who value privacy and decentralization will be cut off.

Another alternative will be to block United States users from accessing DeFi platforms. Most platforms will prefer to shut down their services, while others will restrict US-based users to some transactions. Although the measure will help platforms mitigate regulations, it has also limited exposure to potential users. This would mean a fragmented DeFi ecosystem, with users pushed to where regulations will be easier to follow. With United States users excluded, it may hamper the growth of the global DeFi industry.

Thorne proposes a deep decentralization

According to Thorne, protocols could explore another option, choosing a full decentralization. But this means they will have to forgo revenue generation and smart contract upgrades. It also means they will remove any hint of centralization, which will include front ends. All activities will need to be carried out using immutable smart contracts and community governance.

The approach aligns with the tenets of decentralization, which will see protocols lose the broker tag. It also means they will not be mandated to follow all the other requirements. However, the protocols need to give up their user-friendly interfaces, profits, and upgrades. The new rules are expected to cover 875 protocols, affecting more than 2.6 million United States taxpayers.

However, critics have voiced out about the harm the new rule may have on the United States crypto industry. They fear that innovation may suffer, noting that things could shift away from the country. The Blockchain Association has also complained about the rules, expressing strong opposition to it. With the new IRS regulations, it strongly remains the option of the DeFi platforms what they choose to do.

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