USA Lobbying Crypto: Companies Spend Millions to Influence Regulation

Every economic ecosystem has a circle of people who in some way pull the strings to influence decisions. This is the mission of lobbyists, and there are many in the American crypto industry. Recent data shows a clear increase in the funds injected by these individuals to promote crypto activities.

The American Crypto Lobby Spends Massively

The American crypto industry is on the verge of breaking its own record for federal lobbying spending in 2023. Indeed, companies are allocating significant resources to navigate an ever-evolving regulatory landscape.

According to data from OpenSecrets, a non-profit research group, crypto firms have already spent $18.96 million on lobbying. This, during the first three quarters of this ending year.

This amount has substantially increased year-over-year. It thus surpasses the $16.1 million spent on crypto lobbying during the same period in 2022. And it is thought that it could exceed the total of approximately $22 million spent the previous year.

This sustained growth in lobbying investments tells us one thing. That the crypto sector is striving, in a strategic way, to polish its image. The goal being to shape regulatory policy, which has been rather austere in recent months, in its favor.

US crypto industry lobby spending on track for new record in 2023https://t.co/ZepVHQ9VR7

— Frank Chaparro (@fintechfrank) December 5, 2023

Exchange Coinbase Leading Lobbying Expenditures

This strategic effort to shape American crypto regulatory policy is primarily carried by the exchange platform Coinbase. The company has altogether injected a total of $2.16 million in lobbying.

Other significant companies follow suit. Among them are the crypto exchange Binance and the Blockchain Association. Foris DAX and the operator of Crypto.com are also included in this circle.

It is important to understand that all these companies are not pouring massive funds into lobbying by chance. For instance, Coinbase and Binance have been attacked by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which alleges that they have violated securities laws. The intensification of crypto lobbying efforts appears to be a response to the legal attacks from the American financial regulator. The latter is indeed determined to regulate an American crypto sector which, according to them, disregards laws and its requirements.