Media: Crypto firms spent $5m lobbying in Washington in 2021

In the first nine months of 2021, cryptocurrency companies spent about $5 million lobbying the U.S. Senate. Half of that money was spent in the third quarter, and it was four times higher than the amount spent in the same period last year, The Economist reports, citing public data.

The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase emerged as one of the main backers of the effort. From July through September alone, the company directed about $625,000 to these efforts. Another major player — Jack Dorsey’s Square (now Block) — spent more than $1.7 million lobbying since April 2020.

The publication noted that as regulation of the sector tightens, this trend is gaining momentum beyond the United States. For example, in Brussels, industry representatives engaged 52 lobbyists.

The sector’s companies are also developing their own regulatory proposals. In 2021, Coinbase and the cryptocurrency exchange FTX proposed similar regulatory initiatives.

That the industry’s lobbying efforts are bearing fruit is reflected in the positions of regulators in the United States and Europe. In September, the Fed chair Jerome Powell said that his agency does not intend to ban cryptocurrencies. In the following month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first Bitcoin futures ETF.

On December 8, Congress held hearings with top executives from the crypto industry. Attorney Jack Cherwinski described the hearing as “evidence of the industry-community engagement in Washington.”

In November, the non-profit Blockchain Association raised $4 million for lobbying the industry’s interests in Congress.

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