By The number of cryptocurrency and blockchain lobbyists in the United States has tripled from twelve since 2017 to thirty-three at the end of 2018. This is excellent news as one of the crucial issues that these lobbyists are pushing for will have an effect on all holders of digital currencies.
Cryptocurrency Regulation in The USA:
While many nations around the globe have introduced securities laws and pass bills for regulation of cryptocurrencies, the USA is far behind.
Currently, there are no clear laws within the US government and every day that the passes without clear guidelines and regulatory structure is damaging the adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain.
Many large companies and institutional investors are reluctant to take the plunge into the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain until such a time where the law is clear with comprehensive regulations in place. This is where lobbying has and will play an important role.
Where Crypto Lobbying Meets Securities Laws:
Despite the SEC continuously failing to define precisely which coins are securities, the great news is that this is not being completely ignored. According to the executive director at Coin Center – Jerry Brito “what’s driven a lot of the growth in lobbying recently has been securities regulation.”
The fewer coins classified as securities, the better. This much is evident to anyone in the crypto community, and lobbyists are striving to convince lawmakers as well as regulators to see this in the same light.
In addition to the growth in crypto lobbying, two members of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, Warren Davidson and Darren Soto are working on introducing new legislation which would provide clarification on which coins should be classified as securities.
Who Is Funding The Lobbying?
Although it’s nearly impossible to narrow down who exactly is contributing funds to the crypto lobbying effort, some key players have revealed who they are, Medici Ventures, who are an offshoot of Overstock.com have apparently hired as many as three firms to lobby for blockchain regulation actively.
In addition to that, the Blockchain Association, which includes members such as CoinBase, Circle and Polychain Capital have said that they’ve hired lobbyists to campaign for securities laws which will benefit the crypto industry.
Proper Legislations Is On The Horizon:
As more funding is pumped into the cryptocurrency arena, the number of lobbyists will more than likely increase. Furthermore, this will be heightened by the current lack of regulation in the USA. As long as there is no legislation governing the crypto and blockchain industry, there will be an increasing number of lobbyists pursuing and pushing for the laws to be written.
We hope that these lobbyists efforts pay off and that by the end of this year, the USA has solid cryptocurrency regulations in place which will, in turn, open the market to institutional investors.
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