The lobbying efforts of the largest companies operating in the market will be merged into a single Blockchain Association.
Several funds, crypto exchanges, and blockchain projects, including Coinbase, Circle, Digital Currency Group, Polychain Capital and Protocol Labs, have announced this. The Association will focus its efforts on education in the field of financial technologies and legal changes. It will consider cases on normalization of relations between cryptocurrency start-ups and legislators.
The Association will pay special attention to tax laws, KYC rules and anti-money laundering related to crypto exchanges and start-ups.
The head of the organization will be a former assistant to the Senate, a representative of the American online retailer Overstock.com lobbyist Kristin Smith, reported The Washington Post. “I’ve been spending a lot of time doing a lot of the basic education work in this space, I’m excited to focus exclusively on these issues,” she said. As advisors, the representative of the Protocol Labs, Marvin Ammori and the founder of Hangar Josh Mendelsohn were selected.
According to Mike Lempres, chief legal consultant and manager of risk assessment at Coinbase, the organization will unite companies to uphold sound regulation. “The Blockchain Association is an effort to get the preeminent companies in the space together so [policymakers] know they’re hearing from companies that welcome regulation when it’s appropriate. We’re not companies looking to game the system, but trying to develop a legal and regulatory system that’ll stand the test of time,” he said.
“It’s good to have more voices advocating for things we agree about,” concluded Coin Center CEO Jerry Brito.
