US crypto lobbyists are flooded with zones, is it too much?

The Crypto moment appears to have arrived in Washington, DC, and the industry is trying to make the most of it. But as new organizations become hatched with top advocacy operations and leadership changes, the sector of Procrypt Group carrying torches is more crowded than ever.

A group of more than 12 people, including the Digital Chamber, the Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation, is trying to pilot US digital asset policies. Some of them are virtually overlapping on a membership basis, based on funding sources and the goals they are trying to achieve.

Most of the leaders of these groups told Coindesk that industry allies are increasingly loaded with increasingly loaded positions for President Donald Trump’s highly receptive administration and friendly policies from Congress.

“Many of the goals are consistent across these groups,” said Miller Whitehouse-Levine, who recently left the Defi Education Fund and launched the new Solana Policy Institute. “That’s a good thing, because I have an absolute torrent of ongoing legislative and regulatory work and I need all the help we can get.”

Congress is chasing several crypto bills, including legislation that sets boundaries for the crypto market. It sets up government digital preparations for overseeing stupid assets, cutting off illegally funded digital assets, seeking proof of crypto companies’ reserves. “In an ideal world, there will be another 100 and 10,000 groups working on these issues,” White House Levine added.

However, other current and previous policy advocates have personally admitted that the field is packed in and it is difficult to justify so many entities pulling for the same cause in the same finite universe of Congressional staff, White House offices and regulators. According to people familiar with the discussion, in the recent past, groups have spoken about reorganization and integration, but no such efforts have been implemented.

Meanwhile, new organizations, including White House Levine’s SPI and the National Cryptocurrency Association, have been hanging shingles in recent weeks, further increasing the rank. That’s often the way numbers grew in Washington. A company or lobbyist who is not properly represented in a particular interest and can find a way to pay for it. Large Crypto companies also set up their own DC operations to drive more highly customized interests.

New Leader

Cody Carbone is only a few days into leadership in Digital Chamber, the oldest and largest crypto membership group. The Chamber of Commerce and virtually all other major digital asset organizations lost or traded leaders in the opening months of this year.

He said he understands why so many people are keen to show up in Washington and take advantage of the crypto sentiment turn, and he considers this crowded US group field to be purely positive when there is so much work to complete complex laws.

“At some point, there could be too much cooking in the kitchen,” he said. “But I think that’s a problem at a later date.”

Sheila Warren, who recently resigned as CCI chief, said there was “a room for differentiation” in Crypto’s growing booster army, but she said the united front is important in any way.

“I think it’s about coming together and realizing that we all want the same thing,” she said.

Not all groups share the same agenda. Some focus on narrow areas of the industry, while others are more likely to focus on research and services to crypto users rather than companies. Their ranks include Coin Center, Satoshi Action Fund, Bitcoin Policy Institute, Government Blockchain Association and Bitcoin Mining Council. Ripple has launched a new NCA with an astounding $50 million commitment. This is intended to be one of those people who are more interested in people investing in encryption than in industry players.

Politics

The industry, particularly the US exchange Coinbase – has entered the arena regarding the raw political advantage of advocacy. Coinbase sets up stands with Crypto to jump grassroots style cryptographic movement. The people’s messages were strengthened by the very well-funded fairshake of the Political Action Committee and the fairshake of the Dark Money Inpass Arm, the Cedar Innovation Foundation.

Fairshake spent more than $100 million last year putting friendly lawmakers in Congress seats. The industry already sees a large, bipartisan support early in the new session. One point of evidence: Democrats joined Republicans and were enacted to kill Internal Revenue Service rules that could threaten the demands that exist in the Decentralized Finance (DEFI) project.

“I think it’s a huge advantage that there are many organizations dedicated to achieving clarity in digital assets,” said Amanda Tuminelli, who stepped up to run the Defi Education Fund when White House Levine left. “I think it’s been really necessary, especially in the last few years. When we work together, we have actually achieved great results. For example, IRS brokers control the rules of DEFI.”

Tackling these key tax questions, government crypto preparation, stable market structure and regulations will dive into a new chapter. That transition becomes even more demanding with a sudden, dramatic shuffle of leadership.

Christine Smith, the chief of one of the major groups, left the Blockchain Association and worked for the former Underling White House Levine as president of his new Solana organization. That’s why the association is shopping for new CEOs. Meanwhile, Perianne Boring, the founder and longtime leader of the digital chamber, has finished his unpaid job leading the board, and the founder of the crypto think tank Coincenter has set off as well.

In Warren’s absence from CCI, Ji Kim, former advisor to the group and head of global policy, told Coindesk that “we are focusing on lasers by ensuring that CCI remains a major, substantive and global voice for members on key policy issues.” When asked about the possibility of an organizational merger, he said “I have nothing to say” in that regard.

Lobbyists and supporters have gathered on a daily basis in letters, events and papers that push forward their common purpose.

Carbone said, “There’s definitely a familiarity and conversation between us,” but he said, “We need to collaborate more.”

However, the group has fundraising and practical needs of its members, and is driven to have members who may be able to afford to participate in only one or two of them.

“There’s clearly a competitive angle on this too,” Carbon admitted. “It’s naive to say that it’s not so, so sometimes there’s lace.”