Crypto companies spent a record $21.55 million on Washington lobbying in 2022, with major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase topping the list.
According to one, last year’s spending was more than double the crypto industry’s $8.29 million lobbying outlay for 2021. Analysis Disclosures by OpenSecrets, which includes disclosures from over 50 industry players.
The report revealed that Coinbase spent the most on lobbying, spending around $3.4 million in 2022. Blockchain Association, crypto. $1.1 million, and $1 million, respectively.
It’s worth noting that campaign contributions, election finance, or political donations don’t count as lobbying expenses, even if the donors make connections with policy makers through them.
The record lobbying spending came during a year when the industry saw a series of high-profile failures, starting with the implosion of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin and ending with the . The collapse of the crypto exchange FTX and recently Failure of crypto lending company Genesis,
Meanwhile, while the crypto industry’s lobbying spending is on the rise, the amount spent by its individual companies and business groups is far less than lobbying spending by major technology and e-commerce companies.
For example, Amazon and its subsidiaries $21.38 million paid in 2022, according to an analysis by OpenSecrets, a research group that tracks money in American politics. Similarly, Alphabet spent more than $13 million on lobbying last year.
Sam Bankman-Fried Was a Megadonor to Politicians Last Year
Last year, Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX, spent nearly $40 million on political action committees and campaigns, the bulk of it going to the Democratic Party and its candidates. He was one of the largest donors behind Joe Biden’s successful 2020 presidential campaign.
Back in December, Elon Musk Claimed that the SBF could donate as much as $1 billion to the Democrats. The speculation comes after the disgraced crypto boss revealed that some of his political donations were not publicly disclosed.
Undisclosed donations are legally possible because of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case, which allows donors to give money to politicians anonymously.
Recently, however, the new FTX management has requested Political figures and any other recipients of donations made by Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX officials to return the funds by the end of the month.
The announcement noted that recipients of the donation would be required to repay the amount they received from FTX officials, even if they used that amount to pay third parties, including charities.
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