The crypto industry’s annual spending on lobbying in Washington more than doubles

The crypto industry’s annual spending on lobbying in Washington more than doubles

By Victor Reklaitis

Cryptocurrency industry lobbying spending rises to $21.55 million in 2022

The cryptocurrency industry sharply increased its annual spending on lobbying in Washington last year, shelling out more than ever before — $21.55 million.

This is according to an analysis of disclosures by OpenSecrets, which rounded up disclosures from more than 50 industry players.

2022’s spending was more than double the crypto industry’s lobbying outlay of $8.29 million for 2021, as shown in the chart below.

The upturn came during a year when the industry suffered a black eye thanks to the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in November.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently awaiting trial on fraud charges, had been a megadonor for the 2022 midterm elections, but politicians have ended up returning or giving away campaign contributions tied to FTX.

Campaign contributions are not considered lobbying, although donors make them to build relationships with policymakers.

Bitcoin, the most famous virtual currency, lost more than 60% in 2022, but it has increased in 2023.

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While the crypto industry’s lobbying spending is growing, the amounts paid out by individual companies and trade groups fall far short of lobbying spending by major Washington players. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and its subsidiaries, for example, paid out $21.38 million in 2022, according to an analysis by OpenSecrets, a research group that tracks money in U.S. politics.

From the MarketWatch Archives (February 2022): Congressional Crypto Traders: The US Lawmakers Who Buy and Sell Digital Currencies

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The table below, also based on OpenSecrets data, shows the 2022 lobbying expenditures of companies that aimed to influence Washington on crypto-related issues. Coinbase (COIN) paid out the most, followed by the Blockchain Association.

Name                                        2022 lobbying spending 
Coinbase                                    $3,390,000 
Blockchain Assn                             $1,900,000 
Crypto.com                                  $1,180,000 
Binance Holdings                            $1,110,000 
Ripple                                      $1,080,000 
Chamber of Digital Commerce                 $936,406 
DeFi Education Fund                         $930,000 
Dapper Labs                                 $880,000 
FTX.US                                      $720,000 
Taxbit Inc                                  $520,000 
Tether Operations                           $480,000 
Stellar Development Foundation              $460,000 
Payward Inc                                 $440,000 
Digital Currency Group                      $440,000 
Chainalysis Inc                             $430,000 
Vaultlink Inc                               $360,000 
Crypto Council for Innovation               $350,000 
Chia Network                                $340,000 
Bitcoin Assn                                $340,000 
Coinflip                                    $320,000 
Ava Labs                                    $300,000 
Global Digital Asset & Cryptocurrency Assn  $280,000 
Riot Blockchain                             $280,000 
Anchor Labs                                 $250,000 
Gemini Trust Co                             $240,000 
Paxos Trust Co                              $220,000 
Saito Tech                                  $200,000 
Algorand Inc                                $200,000 
Blockchains LLC                             $195,000 
Association for Digital Asset Markets       $190,000 
Galaxy Digital Holdings                     $190,000 
Bullish US                                  $180,000 
Stone Ridge                                 $180,000 
Celo Foundation                             $176,500 
Bitwise Asset Management                    $160,000 
Overstock.com                               $160,000 
Filecoin Foundation                         $150,000 
Applied Blockchain                          $150,000 
ConsenSys Software                          $150,000 
OpenSea                                     $140,000 
Uniswap Labs                                $130,000 
Proof of Trust                              $120,000 
Marathon Digital Holdings                   $120,000 
Paradigm Operations                         $100,000 
Proof of Stake Alliance                     $100,000 
Hive Blockchain Technologies                $80,000 
Brale Inc                                   $80,000 
LMAX Group                                  $70,000 
Exodus Movement                             $70,000 
BlockFi International                       $40,000 
Bit5ive LLC                                 $22,500 
Genrae                                      $20,000 
Source: OpenSecrets.org 

-Victor Reklaitis

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-18-23 0701ET

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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