Crypto advocates in the United States are making increasing efforts to support the industry, with cryptocurrency lobbying costs rising significantly in recent years.
According to new research from cryptocurrency analytics startup Cryptohead.io, crypto lobbying spending in the U.S. was $4.9 million in 2021, more than doubling from $2.3 million the previous year. The study is based on lobbying tracking data from the Open Secrets research group and the government’s transparency group.
According to Cryptohead, total lobbying spending over the past five years has been over $9.5 million. Back in 2017, total cryptocurrency lobbying spending was only $200,000.
Since Cryptohead has estimated lobbying costs for the US cryptocurrency industry at around $5 million, some analysts suggest that the industry spends much more on things like political initiatives. Wall Street executives, their employees and trade associations invested nearly $3 billion in political initiatives during the 2020 election cycle, according to a report by Americans for Financial Reform.
According to the report, Ripple Labs, the developer of the open source protocol and money transfer system Ripple, is the largest cryptocurrency company in the United States over the past five years, with lobbying costs of nearly $2 million.
Ripple Labs is “arguably the most influential cryptocurrency company in the US when it comes to influencing government policy and regulation,” the study notes. As previously reported, Ripple Labs has been under a US Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit since late 2020, with regulators alleging that the firm was involved in a $1.3 billion unregistered XRP offering.
Other major industry lobbyists include cryptocurrency stock trading app Robinhood, industry advocacy group Blockchain Association, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and blockchain platform Block.one. According to the data, Coinbase was the largest blockchain lobbying company in 2021 with a total spending of more than $1.3 million.
The increase in lobbying spending by the crypto industry appears to be in response to the crypto market getting more attention from US regulators.
In September 2021, the SEC threatened to sue Coinbase over its Lend cryptocurrency yield program, which the regulator considered a security. The firm was eventually forced to abandon the Lend product. The FIA previously ordered Robinhood to pay approximately $70 million in fines for “widespread and significant harm” to its users and “systemic supervisory failures” effective September 2016.
Crypto advocates in the United States are making increasing efforts to support the industry, with cryptocurrency lobbying costs rising significantly in recent years.
According to new research from cryptocurrency analytics startup Cryptohead.io, crypto lobbying spending in the U.S. was $4.9 million in 2021, more than doubling from $2.3 million the previous year. The study is based on lobbying tracking data from the Open Secrets research group and the government’s transparency group.
According to Cryptohead, total lobbying spending over the past five years has been over $9.5 million. Back in 2017, total cryptocurrency lobbying spending was only $200,000.
Since Cryptohead has estimated lobbying costs for the US cryptocurrency industry at around $5 million, some analysts suggest that the industry spends much more on things like political initiatives. Wall Street executives, their employees and trade associations invested nearly $3 billion in political initiatives during the 2020 election cycle, according to a report by Americans for Financial Reform.
According to the report, Ripple Labs, the developer of the open source protocol and money transfer system Ripple, is the largest cryptocurrency company in the United States over the past five years, with lobbying costs of nearly $2 million.
Ripple Labs is “arguably the most influential cryptocurrency company in the US when it comes to influencing government policy and regulation,” the study notes. As previously reported, Ripple Labs has been under a US Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit since late 2020, with regulators alleging that the firm was involved in a $1.3 billion unregistered XRP offering.
Other major industry lobbyists include cryptocurrency stock trading app Robinhood, industry advocacy group Blockchain Association, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and blockchain platform Block.one. According to the data, Coinbase was the largest blockchain lobbying company in 2021 with a total spending of more than $1.3 million.
The increase in lobbying spending by the crypto industry appears to be in response to the crypto market getting more attention from US regulators.
In September 2021, the SEC threatened to sue Coinbase over its Lend cryptocurrency yield program, which the regulator considered a security. The firm was eventually forced to abandon the Lend product. The FIA previously ordered Robinhood to pay approximately $70 million in fines for “widespread and significant harm” to its users and “systemic supervisory failures” effective September 2016.
