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Sentora CLO says SEC remarks on crypto vaults signal DeFi regulatory formalization Michael Bassett, chief legal officer at institutional DeFi platform Sentora, said remarks by U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on crypto vaults and on-chain lending signaled that discussions about bringing DeFi into the regulatory fold were gaining momentum, rather than pointing to tighter regulation. Bassett said Peirce had reaffirmed the SEC’s existing view that activity implemented on-chain does not automatically fall outside the scope of federal securities laws. He added that the more important point was the SEC’s public acknowledgment that crypto vaults and on-chain asset management strategies require separate regulatory discussions. Bassett said the SEC wants to develop a regulatory framework through dialogue with the industry that addresses both innovation and investor protection, and described the remarks as a meaningful signal about the future regulatory direction rather than a new rule or enforcement action. Peirce had previously said that simply depositing crypto assets on-chain does not automatically exempt related activity from federal securities laws.