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Former Blockchain Association CEO Christine Smith spent nearly two months as chairman of the newly formed Solana Policy Institute. I caught up with her to get the latest on the Solana and the Policy Front in Washington.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Jack: Gives report card grades to US regulatory outlook.
Christine Smith: Give “A” to the report card. Looking at the last six months, there have been great progress in rescising the last bad policy of the administration. I’ve seen them switch to banking for crypto companies. We’ve seen the end of the lawsuit. We have seen a variety of regulations, such as SAB-121, preventing new entrants into the crypto space.
So it is very successful in itself. However, the fact that there will be “Crypto Week” in Washington next week appears to be on track to get a stable regulatory framework that has actually been signed into law by President Trump. Looking back from where we were just six months ago, I think it’s proof that we’re incredibly far away.
Jack: Looking forward to the future and when you defend that ecosystem, what is on your wish list on the Solana side of things?
Christine Smith: One thing we’ve been thinking about a lot is when we need to change at a regulatory level to ensure that Solana or other public blockchains will become home to the Internet capital market.
And we’ve gone to see the SEC and submitted some comments about what we’re dubbing as “project open,” and basically (SEC) will issue statements and guidance, encourage potentially exempt relief, consider time-limited sandboxes, allowing more shares to be issued on-chain.
Jack: Solana is very diverse and has many different visions of what people should build. I know you guys had a Depin Summit and it’s exciting and kind of tangential. Which sector of Solana do you spend most of your time? Or is it the most common thing to gain or lose through engagement with policy makers?