Crypto firms have embarked on a lobbying blitz this year and have reportedly spent $5 million in the first 3 quarters as regulation looms

• Crypto firms spent $5 million in the first nine months of 2021 lobbying US legislators, The Economist reported.
• The report noted spending by crypto exchange Coinbase and payments company Block.

Cryptocurrency firms ramped up spending during 2021 to lobby US lawmakers as the industry faces potential legislation, with the tab ballooning to about $5 million over a few months, according to The Economist.

The spending took place during the first nine months of this year and the amount was calculated using public disclosures, the magazine reported in its December 11 edition. Roughly $2.5 million of the funds were spent between July and September, a quadrupling over the same period in 2020.

The amount of money spent employs the equivalent of 86 full-time staff, a surge from just one in 2016, the report said. It also said crypto exchange Coinbase spent $625,000 on lobbyists in the third quarter alone and payments company Block has shelled out more than $1.7 million since April 2020.

Block recently had a name change from Square. Its CEO and bitcoin enthusiast Jack Dorsey recently left the helm of Twitter to focus more time on the payments company that he co-founded.

There are "reams of regulations" potentially in play for the crypto industry, the report said. Issues under consideration include the taxation of crypto investments and protection of consumers from fraud, reducing systemic risk, and ensuring fair competition.

An overall surge in prices for bitcoin, altcoins, NFTs and DeFi tokens this year had collectively pushed the cryptocurrency market past a $3 trillion valuation for the first time. The market cap has since slipped, moving to $2.2 trillion on Friday.