Crypto.com made a major move into federal lobbying at the start of the year
Major crypto exchange and service provider Crypto.com launched a major lobbying operation at the beginning of 2022.
According to lobbying disclosure documents reviewed by The Block, Crypto.com spent $230,000 on lobbying in Q1 of 2022, immediately making it one of the largest players in the crypto lobbying space. It was the first time that the company had reported any lobbying disclosures at all.
Crypto.com is globally based in Singapore, while Foris DAX is registered in the Cayman Islands but operates in the US via the Delaware-registered Foris DAX, Inc. Foris DAX launched an internal operation that did $130,000 worth of lobbying.
The firm also enlisted teams at S-3 Group, Miller Strategies and K&L Gates for contracts that totaled $170,000 in Q1. Additionally, lobbying and advocacy teams at Blue Star Strategies and Sidley Austin filed registrations to lobby for Foris DAX, but did not report any actual lobbying spending as of the Q1 due dates for those reports.
The Lobbying Disclosure Act classifies a relatively narrow range of activities as lobbying that requires disclosure on these reports. Consequently, the $230,000 is not indicative of the whole of Crypto.com’s government relations or strategy work.
“We are actively seeking to work with regulators globally as we continue to build our operations and to educate policymakers about our company and the category,” a spokesperson for Crypto.com told The Block. The firm currently counts a governement relations team of 10-12.
Politico’s Caitlin Oprysko reported recently that the firm’s government wings “expected the teams to have upwards of 40 staffers around the globe by the end of the year.”
Matt David, the firm’s chief communications officer, is currently leading Crypto.com's government relations. Madeline Dyer, formerly of Visa, is the firm’s current director of government affairs and the only other lobbyist currently named on its disclosures.
Per LinkedIn, since February the firm has also hired Chris Golden in Washington, DC and George Tucker in London to work on government affairs.
Update: 4/26/22: An earlier version of this article included lobbying contracts with firms Atlas Crossing and Hill East, which Crypto.com was not party to. Those have been removed.
