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Crypto-related lobbying expenditure in the United States totaled $4.9 million in 2021, more than doubling from $2.3 million in the previous year, according to a new study by the crypto analytics startup Cryptohead.io. The study is based on lobbying tracking data obtained from research and government transparency group Open Secrets. According to Cryptohead’s findings, the total lobbying expenditure amounted to more than $9.5 million over the past five years.
Ripple Labs spent the most on crypto lobbying in the U.S. over the past five years.
In 2017 the total spending on crypto lobbying equaled as low as $200,000. Cryptohead estimated the U.S. crypto industry’s lobbying expenditure is roughly $5 million. However, some analysts suggest that the industry is spending way more on things like political initiatives. According to a report by Americans for Financial Reform, Wall Street executives, their employees, and trade associations invested nearly $3 billion into political initiatives during the 2020 election cycle. Ripple Labs has been the biggest-spending crypto company in the United States over the past five years, with nearly $2 million in lobbying expenses.
The crypto industry continues to attract more regulations.
The U.S crypto industry’s increased spending on lobbying efforts comes in response to the crypto market attracting more attention from financial regulators. As reported earlier in September 2021, the SEC threatened to sue COINBASE over its crypto yield program Lend, which the regulator considered security. The firm was eventually forced to cancel the Lend product. Previously, the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered Robinhood to pay roughly $70 million in fines for “widespread and significant harm” to its users and “systemic supervisory failures” starting as early as September 2016.
