Top Crypto CEOs to Meet Democrats Over New DeFi Crackdown Plans

Executives from leading crypto companies will meet Democratic Party representatives in Washington to discuss upcoming regulatory proposals targeting the DeFi sector, journalist Eleanor Terrett has reported. The closed-door roundtable is scheduled for Wednesday, October 22, 2025.

According to the report, participants will include Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, Kraken CEO Dave Ripley, and Ripple Labs General Counsel Stuart Alderoty, among others. The meeting will be chaired by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

The talks were arranged after a leaked Democratic proposal on DeFi regulation triggered pushback from Republicans and industry leaders. The leak intensified political friction and raised concerns over how far the government plans to go in reshaping the sector.

Leaked DeFi Proposal Sparks Industry Backlash

Earlier in October, an internal document titled “Preventing Illicit Finance and Regulatory Arbitrage Through Decentralized Finance Platforms” surfaced online. It outlined aggressive measures aimed at reducing illegal activity in decentralized finance.

Key elements of the proposal include:

• registering DeFi service providers as brokers, including website admins with protocol access;
• expanding the powers of the U.S. Treasury and creating a blacklist of prohibited protocols;
• enforcing KYC/AML requirements on new groups, including some non-custodial wallet providers.

Industry voices say the rules could amount to an effective ban. Critics argue the measures would drive developers and capital to foreign markets, weakening U.S. leadership in Web3. Some also claim the Democratic proposal aims to stall the Republican-backed CLARITY bill, which passed the House but has not yet advanced in the Senate.

At the time of publication, none of the expected participants had issued public comments on the upcoming meeting.