The 2022 witnessed a record $21.55 million spent on lobbying US government agencies by crypto companies. Popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase led the pack by spending nearly $3.5 million.
The lobbying expenditure by crypto firms is more than double the industries’ 2021 lobbying outlay of $8.29 million, says an analysis from OpenSecrets.
The same analysis also states that Coinbase has shelled out $3.4 million in 2022. The runner-up list includes Binance Holdings ($1.1 million), Ripple ($1 million), Blockchain Association ($1.9 million), and Crypto.com (1.2 million).
The political donation and campaign contributions are not included in the stated lobbying spending. However, Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, made headlines for spending over $70 million in political donations in 2022.
Though the crypto industry witnessed a series of high-profile failures, including the historic Terra collapse, the implosion of crypto exchange FTX, and the failure of Genesis, the industry’s lobbying spending has witnessing a marked growth.
While crypto industry’s overall lobbying spend has grown, individual players’ expenditure lobbying is well below major players in other businesses. For example, Amazon.com Inc and its subsidiaries spent $21.38 million in lobbying in 2022, a MarketWatch report said.
Despite lobbying, the regulatory environment for the cryptocurrency industry has not become remarkably favorable in important jurisdictions, including the United States.
