Uniswap founder Hayden Adams tells CFTC that US regulatory pressure pushed crypto builders overseas

Hayden Adams, the founder and CEO of Uniswap Labs, walked into a Washington, D.C., conference room on August 20 and told a panel of federal regulators something they probably didn’t love hearing: their own enforcement strategy has been an accelerant for offshore crypto development.

At the inaugural meeting of the CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee, Adams argued that US regulatory pressure has pushed founders to set up shop in friendlier jurisdictions, giving international competitors the freedom to build faster and iterate without the constant threat of legal action.

From enforcement target to advisory panelist

Adams was appointed to the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee back in February 2026, a move that signaled at least some willingness from regulators to hear directly from DeFi builders rather than just prosecuting them.

That willingness came after a rocky stretch. In April 2024, Uniswap Labs received a Wells notice from the SEC, the formal “we’re probably going to sue you” letter that keeps crypto founders up at night. That notice was ultimately dropped in March 2025, but not before generating months of uncertainty for the largest decentralized exchange by volume.

Separately, the CFTC itself hit Uniswap Labs with a $175,000 penalty in 2024 related to leveraged trading offerings. So Adams wasn’t speaking as a theoretical observer of regulatory overreach. He was speaking as someone who has been on the receiving end of it from both major US financial regulators.

The talent drain argument

Adams didn’t name specific competitors or cite particular jurisdictions during his remarks, according to initial reports from the meeting. He also didn’t put forward concrete policy recommendations, suggesting the committee is still in its early, diagnostic phase rather than drafting proposals.

Broader regulatory context

The enforcement-first approach that characterized the SEC under former Chair Gary Gensler created a chilling effect that extended well beyond the companies directly targeted. When Uniswap received its Wells notice, it wasn’t just Uniswap Labs that reacted. DeFi teams across the ecosystem recalibrated their legal strategies, and some accelerated plans to move operations outside the US.

The $175,000 CFTC fine against Uniswap Labs was relatively modest by regulatory standards. For context, that’s roughly what a mid-level software engineer in San Francisco earns in a year. But the signal it sent mattered more than the dollar amount: even decentralized protocols aren’t beyond the reach of US enforcement, and the rules you might be breaking aren’t always clear until after you’ve broken them.

What the committee does next

The CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee now faces the challenge of translating industry feedback into actionable recommendations. Adams’s testimony establishes the baseline concern: the current regulatory environment is not competitive internationally.