• The crypto industry set a record in 2022, spending $21.55 million on lobbying in Washington D.C., more than double the amount spent the previous year.
• Coinbase was the top spender, investing around $3.4 million in lobbying activities.
• Big technology and e-commerce companies such as Amazon, Alphabet, and FTX reclaimed political donations from their respective CEOs in 2020.
The crypto industry set a new record in 2022 with regards to the amount spent on lobbying in Washington D.C., reaching a total of $21.55 million, which is more than double the amount spent the previous year ($8.29 million).
Coinbase topped the list of major players spending money on lobbying activities, with an investment of around $3.4 million followed by Blockchain Association ($1.9 million), Crypto.com ($1.2 million), Binance Holdings ($1.1 million) and Ripple ($1 million). It is worth noting that these figures only account for direct lobbying expenses (not campaign contributions or election finance).
In comparison to large technology and e-commerce corporations such as Amazon and Alphabet who spent respectively $21.38 million and over $13 million on their lobbying activities last year, cryptocurrency firms are still spending less money overall on Washington influence campaigns despite the record breaking 2022 expenditure figures seen recently in this sector..
Sam Bankman-Fried was among the most generous contributors to Joe Biden’s successful 2020 presidential campaign with roughly $40 million going towards PACs and campaigns – predominantly to Democratic Party candidates and incumbents..
Overall, it can be seen that significant progress has been made regarding political donations from cryptocurrency firms even though they still lag behind traditional corporate giants when it comes to overall expenditure amounts for lobbying activities in Washington D.C..