Aave Labs, Kamino, and Veda argue that users depositing crypto or borrowing against collateral in DeFi lending protocols do not enter securities arrangements under the Howey test, Reves, the Investment Company Act, or the Investment Advisers Act

Ongoing legal fight over which digital assets count as securities under investor-protection law and which are commodities, determining whether the SEC or CFTC oversees them.

How rules written for financial intermediaries apply to protocols that claim to have none, from KYC and AML obligations to front-end and developer liability.