- Crypto sector’s lobbying spending set to break records, reaching $18.96 million in 2023.
- Coinbase leads U.S. crypto lobbying, spending $2.16 million amid regulatory challenges.
- Crypto firms push for favorable laws, including a bitcoin ETF, despite past scandals.
On December 5, Reuters reported that the digital currency sector was set to break its own record for spending on government lobbying. This came after a year where these companies worked hard to improve their image and push for laws that would benefit them. This information comes from OpenSecrets, a group that does research and doesn’t aim to make a profit.
In the first nine months of 2023, crypto businesses spent about $18.96 million on lobbying. This is more than the $16.1 million they spent during the same time in 2022. This increase happened even though there was a big failure in the crypto market last year, especially with the collapse of the FTX trading platform, which used to be one of the biggest spenders in lobbying. In total, companies like FTX spent close to $22 million on lobbying last year.
Coinbase, the biggest crypto exchange in the U.S., spent the most again, with $2.16 million. Following it were Foris DAX, the company behind Crypto.com, along with the Blockchain Association and Binance Holdings.
“Our goal is to engage directly with policymakers, build relationships and bridge the education gap to build a commonsense regulatory framework.”
Kristin Smith, CEO, the Blockchain Association
Crypto businesses are growing their presence in Washington. This is partly to fix their image after several problems last year. One big issue was the failure of FTX, whose ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was well-known in Washington. He was recently convicted of fraud in a federal court in Manhattan.
These firms are also dealing with more attention from regulators, particularly the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC claims that the crypto industry isn’t following its rules. The amount of lobbying increased when the SEC took legal action against Coinbase and Binance in June. The SEC accused them of not registering certain tokens, but both companies disagree with these claims.
The crypto industry is also working hard to get the SEC to approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that deals directly with bitcoin. They believe this would allow many more people to invest in the world’s biggest cryptocurrency. The hope that the SEC might agree to this, especially after a significant court decision in the summer, helped bitcoin’s value reach its highest in 20 months on Monday.
Additionally, crypto companies are trying to get laws passed in the House of Representatives that would be good for them. They had a win in July when a committee in the House passed two important bills. Lobbyists say these bills would make it clearer which financial rules apply to crypto businesses.
Even though these bills haven’t moved forward yet, the people lobbying for crypto aren’t giving up. Coinbase, for example, started a campaign in September to get more people involved in advocating for crypto. They plan to continue this effort with more meetings with lawmakers in the upcoming weeks, as stated by a spokesperson.
