Well-known economist Steve Hanke said that crypto companies are spending “hundreds of millions of dollars” in lobbying and negotiating in Washington, DC, trying to reach favorable terms with regulators. Related crypto companies such as Fidelity, Square, and Coinbase have created a new trade association called the “Crypto Innovation Committee” to promote the promise of cryptocurrencies.
Hanke stated that the “large-scale lobbying power” of Washington’s cryptocurrency lobbyists is funded by major centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain companies that will usher in the disruptive changes promised by Web 3.0. Hanke said that cryptocurrency lobbyists want to disintermediate banks, and they want to eliminate them, so the best way is to make banks regulated in one way and digital banks regulated in another way. Hanke called for immediate supervision of the cryptocurrency industry, and Brian Brooks, CEO of Bitcoin mining company Bitfury, agreed.