Crypto Heavyweights Form Pro-Blockchain Lobbying Group 🚨 This article is 6 years old...
Crypto Heavyweights Form Pro-Blockchain Lobbying Group
2 min read
Updated: Nov. 25, 2019 at 4:25 am UTC
Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash
As Capitol Hill learns to parent the budding young toddler that is the cryptocurrency industry, some of the industry’s biggest hitters have joined hands to form The Blockchain Association—a lobbying group intending to curry “pro-innovation” favor with U.S. lawmakers.
Materializing out of a blog post on Medium, The Blockchain Association has reportedly set up camp in Congress’ own Washington D.C. and will serve as a “unified voice” that lobbies for favorable policy in the nascent blockchain industry.
The not-for-profit group plans to liaise between Congress and a spectrum of industry stakeholders, namely the projects, exchanges, investors and foundations it deems committed to fuelling industry-wide growth.
The group would appear particularly concerned with cryptocurrency regulation, rather than blockchain, noting:
“We seek policies that support the creation and use of digital tokens and assets, and capital formation and trading through robust exchanges.”
In describing its ultimate objective, the association appeared to nod at the deeper meaning behind the world’s seemingly insatiable appetite for decentralization—or what it would surmise as a “growing global demand for accessible, transparent and democratic financial and technical systems.”
Congress: The Real Market-Makers?
As Congress deliberates over how to regulate such an apparent paradigm shift, the Blockchain Association seems to view the blockchain industry as being stuck in a purgatory of sorts, noting that lawmakers’ decision will decide its fate “for years” to come.
To the association, a collaborative effort may be the key to winning over the hearts of Congress. They wrote:
“We’ll foster collaboration between the community and industry leaders, educate policymakers and the public on the benefits of blockchain and related technologies, and advocate for public policy that cultivates and enables innovation and improves lives.”
While the group may come together without fanfare, its weight will likely stand this mission in good stead, with inaugural members from Coinbase, Protocol Labs and Circle, and investor backing from Polychain Capital and Digital Currency Group—organizations that are “setting the pace of the industry,” according to the newly formed group.
For one, Coinbase, an unfolding monolith in the crypto world, has jumped over a series of regulatory hurdles with dizzying succession, having been given the green light on a number of initiatives such as its custodial solution, security token listings, and SEC registration status.
Few of these heavyweights are strangers to Capitol Hill and seem to be fitting representatives to stack the cards of lawmakers in favor of more bullish legislation. Coming ahead of Congressman Davidson’s plan to submit an ICO-related bill to lawmakers, the Blockchain Association may have to hit the ground running.
Posted In: Adoption, Regulation
