Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) announced on Friday that she planned to release a long-awaited proposal to “fully integrate digital assets into our financial system” this coming week. The bipartisan bill, which was jointly drafted by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), is expected to give a glimpse into the effects of crypto’s powerful lobbying campaigns on Capitol Hill.
Lobbying by cryptocurrency companies quadrupled from 2018 to 2021, eclipsing $9 million in total spend according to Bloomberg. Among the biggest spenders were Coinbase ($1.5 million), Ripple Labs ($1.1 million), and Stellar Development ($590,000), among others. It’s notable that Ripple is currently being sued by the SEC in federal court.
And that number doesn’t even include the millions funneling into the forthcoming election cycle: crypto companies have poured over $30 million into campaigns, with FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly raising nearly half of that figure.
All this money is certainly worthy for the emergent and nascent crypto and web3 space. It’s not just having an impact on the kind of candidates bubbling up in anticipation of this November’s midterm elections, but affecting election outcomes and legislative priorities for crypto.
According to Politico, a leaked version of the bill stoked concerns among left-leaning thinktanks. Specifically, the Center for American Progress cited that “it would have created new avenues for token-based startups to skirt securities laws and have allowed investors to duck taxes on crypto transactions where they gross less than $600.” However, Lummis indicated in a tweet published in late May that any leaked legislation predated Gillibrand’s involvement.
One factor that is top of mind is the bodies which will ultimately regulate crypto. Right now, that’s the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, efforts by some lawmakers (and this bill), might create self-regulating agencies, or prescribe control over crypto regulation to one or more regulatory bodies. That could include the SEC, or its closely-acquainted neighbor, the CFTC (which is what crypto maximalists want.)
We’ll ultimately get a look at the bill, its allegiances, and what it might mean for the future of crypto later this week.