Why Lobbying Growth Is a Sign That Crypto Is Maturing

At a time when there's plenty of talk about the need for crypto to standardize and regulate itself before adoption can really take off, it would now seem that lobbying on cryptocurrency-related issues is also increasing.

Its statistics revealed that the number of companies and organizations lobbying for crypto had increased between Q4 2018 and Q1 2019, with lobbying efforts from the likes of Mastercard, Accenture and EY underlining how the regulatory fate of blockchain and cryptocurrencies isn't of interest only to Coinbase, Coin Center and other representatives of the crypto industry.

The recent growth in lobbying is also a sign that lawmakers and regulators aren't moving quickly and decisively enough on crypto legislation, while the preponderance of organizations that didn't originate in the cryptocurrency industry indicates the possibility that this industry might be shaped against the wishes of the wider crypto community.

After the Chamber of Commerce, the next biggest spender with an interest in either blockchain or crypto was the National Association of Manufacturers, which had $2.3 million to spend on lobbying in the first quarter of 2019.

Once again, most of this probably went to noncrypto issues, yet EY also declared a lobbying interest in "General issues related to FinTech and crypto-assets," and also general issues "Related to innovation, emerging technologies, and blockchain." It had, in March, also launched a tool for calculating the tax owed on cryptocurrencies, so it's possible that some of its lobbying time was focused on tax regulation for cryptocurrencies.

What's interesting about NAMIC and the other top-10 lobbying groups is that none of them operate primarily within the crypto industry.

The ultimate aim of such legislation and lobbying is to provide the crypto industry with the stimulus and certainty to develop as strongly as possible, and it's in this context that the increase in lobbying becomes significant.

While there is, of course, no indication that the likes of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, IBM or Ernst & Young are actively lobbying for legislation that will prejudice the wider crypto ecosystem, it's possible that their respective interests might neglect certain things that members of this ecosystem might want.

As a result, the growth in crypto-related lobbying might ultimately have the effect of sanitizing crypto and making it less dynamic.

Aside from spending more on lobbying activities, it has also been forming such advocacy groups as the Blockchain Association and Blockchain for Europe, which in addition to lobbying also engage in educational and promotional on the industry's behalf.