a16z and the DeFi Education Fund sent a letter to the SEC, proposing that DEX be exempt from exchange registration

a16z, in collaboration with the DeFi Education Fund, submitted a joint proposal to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, proposing the establishment of safe harbor rules and the creation of a "rebuttable presumption," meaning that decentralized exchange (DEX) protocols and their front-end interfaces do not fall under the definition of "exchanges" as defined by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

On the same day, a16z also submitted a second letter urging the SEC to establish a registration system for centralized cryptocurrency trading platforms, similar to the alternative trading system (ATS) rules from 1998. Both letters were dated September 14, and three days later, the SEC issued an "Innovation Exemption" for tokenized stock trading venues.