American Dynamism as a Global Catalyst: Accelerating Toward New Frontiers

Reposted from the seifdn.org blog, authored by Gerald Gallagher, with permission.

"The frontier of science remains endless. In a free society like ours, scientific progress depends on intellectual freedom, opportunity for all sorts of minds, competition among ideas and institutions, and a well-integrated partnership among government, higher education, business, and foundations." — Vannevar Bush, Science, The Endless Frontier (1945)

America as Global Innovation Crossroads

America's historical strength in technological leadership comes not from isolation, but from its status as a hub in the global wheel, where talent, capital, and ideas converge and flourish. The unique blend of pragmatism, risk-taking, and openness that defines American innovation creates ripple effects that benefit the entire global community. In January of 2022, Katherine Boyle of Andreessen Horowitz introduced the world to the concept of American Dynamism as it relates to technology and investment. As Katherine pointed out in that post, “[D]ynamism in America is not being spurred by policy in Washington — it’s being driven by a growing group of technologists that are solving problems of immense national importance. And as technology becomes less of a “sector” and more of a means of acceleration that touches every industry and aspect of society, we’ll see more solutions for American problems coming from engineers, technologists, and startup founders. Washington and Silicon Valley are going to have to become friends.” 

We have an opportunity, right now, to continue to lean into this means of acceleration. We believe blockchain and digital asset technology are of immense national importance. This dynamism has repeatedly transformed not just America but the world, from the microprocessor to the internet, from genomics to artificial intelligence.

The Sei Development Foundation (“SDF” or “Foundation”) established deep roots in the United States precisely because of the powerful convergence of institutions that accelerate breakthrough innovation:

• World-class research universities and laboratories
• Unparalleled venture capital networks and markets
• Diverse technical talent from across the globe
• Multidisciplinary expertise spanning cryptography, finance, and computer science
• And, most recently, and perhaps importantly, buy-in at the highest levels of government on pro-innovation policies

The U.S.-based foundation serves not as a flag-waving exercise, but as a strategic node in a global network. By engaging constructively with American policymakers and building bridges between traditional systems and decentralized networks, the Foundation is helping crystallize an innovation model that can spread worldwide. This is a direct contrast to the reactionary policy of the last cycle, when other jurisdictions rushed in to fill the gaps.

The American Crypto Renaissance is Well Underway

The narrative has shifted dramatically. After years of regulatory uncertainty, America is experiencing a profound transformation in its approach to digital assets:

Legislative and Regulatory Momentum:

• Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Rep. French Hill (R) and Rep. Glenn Thompson (R) introduced the bipartisan Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. The bill seeks to provide clarity between duties of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), mandating that cryptocurrency dealers and brokers segregate customer funds, and requiring disclosures of conflicts of interest. The bill also aligns with legal precedents from the SEC vs. Ripple case, clarifying that secondary market transactions are not necessarily securities.
• The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act has advanced in the Senate with a 66–32 vote. This legislation seeks to regulate stablecoin issuers by mandating equivalent fiat reserves, prohibiting yield offerings, and enforcing audits and anti-money laundering protocols. 
• The SEC's Division of Corporation Finance issued new guidance clarifying that certain protocol staking activities on proof-of-stake networks do not constitute securities offerings. This includes self-staking, non-custodial staking, and specific custodial staking models, provided they do not involve the entrepreneurial efforts of others. 

Institutional Adoption Accelerating:

• Bitcoin ETFs have reached nearly $40B in net inflows across $130B in AUM, with BlackRock's IBIT leading the way with $70B AUM.
• Major banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America are expanding crypto services.
• The CME became the world's largest Bitcoin futures exchange, surpassing Binance.

Political Realignment:

• Stand With Crypto reports that over 52 million Americans own crypto, and played a key role in 2024 national and local elections
• House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R) and Congressman Ritchie Torres (D) launched a newly defined and invigorated bipartisan Crypto Caucus in Congress to focus on open-source development and permissionless networks, expanding economic opportunities, and strengthening national security and global competitiveness, in addition to other initiatives.
• State-level initiatives like Wyoming's SPDI banks and stablecoin, New Hampshire and Arizona’s passive of Strategic Reserve Legislation, and Texas's Bitcoin mining policies show bottom-up innovation at the local level.

This isn't about catching up. America reclaiming its natural position as the global leader in financial and technological innovation, following a brief period where we lost our way. The combination of the deepest capital markets, world-class talent, and renewed energy on policy creates an unprecedented opportunity for American leadership in blockchain and digital assets.

Cross-Domain Innovation, Powered by American Infrastructure

Breakthroughs happen at intersections, not just of technologies, but of institutions, talent, and ideas. That’s why the Sei Development Foundation is rooted in America, where world-class research, capital markets, and policy leadership converge to drive innovation with global impact.

From this strategic position, SDF champions open source protocols and innovation like the Sei Network as high-performance blockchain infrastructure built to support emerging sectors like AI, science, and next-generation finance. By engaging with American institutions and technical communities, the SDF ensures the Sei protocol evolves alongside, and in service of, the country’s most ambitious innovations.

• AI Systems: As U.S. leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic redefine machine intelligence, the need for trust, transparency, and verifiability grows. The Foundation is well-positioned to align the Sei protocol with emerging AI safety standards. This proximity allows the SDF to engage with policymakers, researchers, and developers in real time, actively educating and helping shape U.S. Policy.
• Decentralized Science: The US is still the world’s top funder of scientific and academic research. The Sei protocol’s architecture supports new models for privacy-preserving data sharing, transparent grant funding, and reproducible science. The SDF’s alignment with this ecosystem makes it a natural conduit for DeSci innovation.
• Next-Gen Finance: Home to institutions like the NYSE, BlackRock, Coinbase, RobinHood, and numerous others, the U.S. is at the forefront of financial innovation. The Foundation champions the Sei Network as infrastructure that can support real-time, programmable markets, compatible with both regulatory standards and open access.

The Foundation is not just supporting a network. It is plugging next-generation infrastructure directly into the U.S. innovation engine and distributing those benefits globally.

What begins in America can scale to everyone.

Building Global Bridges from American Bedrock

By aligning with the heart of American innovation, the Foundation gains more than symbolic affiliation, it gains tangible proximity to the forces that shape the future: deep technical talent pools, world-class institutions, and the policy directives that define global technology standards.

Operating from New York City, SDF is not only a hub for development. It’s a real-time participant in the American innovation feedback loop. Proximity enables direct engagement with financial, academic, and regulatory institutions, giving SDF a unique ability to affect and be affected by the evolution of blockchain policy, capital markets, and research. This isn’t just strategic positioning, it’s active immersion in the system that continues to set the tempo for global technological adoption.

And just as proximity to innovation accelerators matters, so does the ability to distribute the benefits of that acceleration globally. As a champion of the Sei protocol’s high-performance infrastructure, with sub-400ms finality and 5 gigagas throughput, and a benefactor of the Sei Network’s distinctly global userbase, the Foundation can foster development with massive global reach. Builders anywhere in the world can tap into the speed, scale, and credibility enabled by the Sei Development Foundation’s U.S.-anchored development model.

This approach mirrors the path of legacy internet protocols: born in American institutions, scaled through open standards, and distributed globally as infrastructure for the world. The SDF’s mission is not about technological nativism, but about channeling the unique strengths of the U.S. to empower a decentralized, permissionless future — everywhere.

Renewing the Promise of the Endless Frontier

Nearly eighty years after Vannevar Bush articulated his vision of an "endless frontier," his core insight remains relevant: human progress depends on pushing boundaries through deliberate investment in foundational infrastructure and research.

Today's blockchain frontier offers similar promise and demands similar commitment. The development of high-performance blockchain infrastructure isn't merely a technological project, it's a pivotal moment that will shape how value, information, and trust move throughout the global economy for decades to come.

The Sei Development Foundation invites builders, institutions, and visionaries from around the world to join in this mission. By combining American dynamism with global collaboration, the Foundation aims to enable infrastructure that doesn't just improve existing systems but fundamentally transforms what's possible across borders and domains.

The frontier is endless, and by harnessing American dynamism for global progress, we can extend the benefits of this progress and exploration to all of humanity.

The Sei Development Foundation is committed to fostering high-performance infrastructure that accelerates global innovation through American technological leadership. Learn more about this vision at seifdn.org. This post is intended for informational purposes only. It may contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Nothing in this update should be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. This update contains information related to digital assets or protocols. Such information is not intended as legal, financial, or investment advice.