Over the past decade, Ethereum builders focused on creating systems that are global, resilient, and verifiable. Meanwhile, centralized actors invested heavily in lobbying and gained outsized influence in policymaking. This imbalance has often left the principles and technologies underpinning onchain infrastructure misunderstood or overlooked.
Today, we’re launching the Ethereum Protocol Advocacy Alliance to coordinate policy efforts among the teams building core onchain infrastructure. Together, we secure over $100 billion in assets through open, non-custodial protocols that operate without intermediaries. Drawing on our pragmatic and technical experience, we will advocate for onchain solutions to regulatory challenges.
"Initiatives like the Ethereum Protocol Advocacy Alliance (EPAA) reflect a growing recognition that stakeholders across the Ethereum ecosystem have an important role to play in educating policymakers. The Ethereum Foundation supports community-led coordination on advocacy and applauds the EPAA’s work."
- Tomasz K. Stańczak, Co-Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundatio
Strong advocacy efforts are already underway. The Alliance exists to reinforce these efforts with the collective weight of builder voices. Policymakers now face increasingly complex questions about onchain systems. Protocol teams bring years of practical experience building infrastructure that provides benefits to individuals and institutions, and addresses risks directly in code. By working alongside existing organizations, we can help ensure regulation is effective, technically grounded, and supportive of the principles that keep Ethereum protocols secure, neutral, and transparent.
“We’ve seen firsthand the technical and practical complexity involved in building onchain systems. Bringing together the most credible protocol teams will help ensure regulatory outcomes are workable for the builders moving this space forward.”
- Anthony Leutenegger, CEO of Aragon
“The Uniswap ecosystem has faced undue regulatory scrutiny in the past—that’s why we know how critical it is for actual builders to have a seat at the table when policy for decentralized financial systems is being shaped.”
- Brian Nistler, General Counsel of the Uniswap Foundation
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To ensure Ethereum’s core infrastructure remains resilient and globally accessible, we have aligned on the following priorities to guide our policy engagement and define the outcomes we work toward.
Protect the neutrality of the protocol layer: Non-custodial, open protocols form the foundation of decentralized finance. They must remain neutral and permissionless. Regulation should not interfere the with code itself or how it is developed.
Advance onchain transparency as a compliance path: Onchain data provides a real-time, verifiable source of compliance for protocols. Regulation should not duplicate onchain information offchain or treat permissionless infrastructure as if it were an intermediary requiring registration, reporting, or disclosure.
Preserve flexibility for protocol innovation: Tests, criteria, and definitions should reflect how onchain protocols function today and are evolving in practice. Regulation should avoid overly broad rules and requirements or rigid standards that constrain innovation or hamper the diversity of technical infrastructure implementations, now or in the future.
Uphold global permissionless access: Protocols must be able to operate globally, enabling borderless and permissionless access and participation. Global guidance should avoid fragmenting access along jurisdictional lines or undermining composability, interoperability, and liquidity.
“Decentralization is the foundation of Ethereum’s credibility and resilience, and through the EPAA, we’re ensuring that policy recognizes and protects this principle.”
- Sam Kim, Chief Legal Officer of Lido Labs Foundation
The Ethereum Protocol Advocacy Alliance advances these priorities through targeted, collaborative policy engagement. We:
Identify areas of common technical interest to align on policy positions.
Contribute technical expertise to policymakers, advocacy partners, and public consultations.
Produce pragmatic resources that explain how onchain systems mitigate risk and embed accountability in code.
Coordinate strategic engagement to strengthen the reach and consistency of builder voices.
“After years of building with the incredible Ethereum community, I've seen firsthand what's possible when protocols collaborate and support one another. The EPAA's mission to bring protocol builders' perspectives to policymakers is exactly what our industry needs to ensure regulation supports rather than stifles the remarkable progress we've made together.”
- Nick Hansen, Team Lead of The Graph Foundation
The Alliance is launching with an initial cohort of leading Ethereum protocols with strong track records, including Aave Labs, Aragon, Curve, Lido Labs Foundation, Spark Foundation, The Graph Foundation, and Uniswap Foundation. These protocol builders bring deep experience from years of stewarding Ethereum infrastructure. They have learned from past challenges and are uniquely positioned to help shape practical solutions for the future.
“At the Decentralization Research Center, we see the Ethereum Protocol Advocacy Alliance as a vital step toward ensuring that those who build decentralized systems also help shape the rules that govern them,”
- Connor Spelliscy, Executive Director of the Decentralization Research Center.
We’re partnering with aligned organizations including the DeFi Education Fund, the Decentralization Research Center, the European Crypto Initiative. These groups are already leading critical advocacy efforts. The Alliance aims to bolster their work by contributing technical and pragmatic input from teams building core infrastructure.
“At its core, advocacy depends on building coalitions — across the crypto industry, we are all working together to enable the next generation of financial innovation. At the DeFi Education Fund, we are proud to promote and protect DeFi’s technologies and builders, and we appreciate EPAA’s efforts in advancing crypto policy globally.”
- Amanda Tuminelli, Executive Director of DeFi Education Fund
We have a pressing and meaningful opportunity to shape how onchain infrastructure is understood and regulated. By working together, we can help ensure that the systems we’re building are not just compliant, but also clearly understood, protected from overreach, and recognized as valid solutions.
The Alliance is a voluntary coordination forum and is not a legal entity. Each participant speaks only for itself unless expressly stated otherwise.
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