How Crypto Lobbying Surpassed Wall Street in 2023

The US crypto industry has spent more than $20 million on lobbying this year, surpassing the previous record of $22.2 million in 2022.

The report shows the growing influence of crypto in the US politics. The US crypto industry is not holding back on its lobbying efforts as it faces increasing regulatory challenges and uncertainty. A report by CoinGecko published on Nov. 14 reveals that the crypto lobby has spent $20.19 million in 2023 so far, and this figure does not include the spending in the fourth quarter.

This means that the total lobbying expenditure this year will likely exceed the record-breaking amount of $22.2 million in 2022, which was the highest for the American crypto industry. The report also shows that the US crypto lobby has grown significantly in the past few years, both in terms of spending and number of participants. In 2019 and 2020, the total lobbying budget of the US crypto companies was between $2.5 million and $3 million, which was less than 3% of the Wall Street companies’ lobbying expenses.

In 2021, this number jumped to $8.5 million; in 2022, it reached $22 million. To date, crypto lobbying spending has accounted for 19.7% of Wall Street lobbying. Related: Crypto Advocates File Amicus Brief to Protect Users’ Privacy Rights The number of companies involved in lobby spending has not changed much compared to last year — with 56 this year versus 57 in 2022. It’s still considerably more than in 2021 (37 companies), 2020 (17) or 2019 (19).

Coinbase has been the leader in spending efforts for 2019–2023, with $7.5 million spent. Second place belongs to the non-profit Blockchain Association, with $5.23 million spent. Ripple follows in third place, with $3.46 million in crypto lobbying expenditure. The list of organizations that have consistently participated in lobbying efforts includes the Chamber of Digital Commerce, the Bitcoin Association and Anchorage Digital.

The study’s data set excluded cases of mixed spending on crypto and non-crypto issues, such as the lobbying efforts from PayPal, JP Morgan, IBM and other companies.