Several leading companies in the crypto industry, including Coinbase and Circle, have announced the creation of the Blockchain Association. The organization brings together exchanges, investors, and foundations that plan to coordinate lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the cryptocurrency industry.
Founding members of the Blockchain Association include Coinbase, Protocol Labs, Circle, Inter / Stellar, Digital Currency Group, and Polychain Capital. The newly formed group published a press release on Medium that outlined the association’s goals.
The non-profit trade association, based in Washington, D.C., says it will focus on presenting a unified voice for the U.S. regulatory community in the nation’s capital.
The press release states:
Our goal is to create a pro-innovation environment for the industry to meet the growing global demand for accessible, transparent, and democratic financial and technological systems.
To accomplish this, the Blockchain Association intends to build relationships between the cryptocurrency community and industry leaders, educate regulators and consumers about the emerging technology, and advocate for policies and regulations that enable innovation in cryptocurrencies and decentralized systems.
The press release adds:
Federal agencies and Congress are now focused on consumer protection, regulation of ICOs and secondary market trading, anti-money laundering and KYC, money transmitter licensing, taxation, and user privacy. The decisions they make today will shape the industry for years to come. That is why the Blockchain Association will serve as a bridge to policymakers.
The group will work alongside Coin Center, a nonprofit organization that welcomed the formation of the Blockchain Association.
New trade association gives cryptocurrency industry a voice in DC
— Coin Center (@coincenter) September 11, 2018
In an interview with The Washington Post, Coinbase’s Mike Lempres explained:
The Blockchain Association is intended to bring together the industry’s leading companies so that policymakers hear from organizations that welcome sensible regulation. We are not trying to work around the system; rather, we want to help build a legal and regulatory framework that endures.
This announcement follows Coinbase’s creation of a Political Action Committee (PAC), which the company filed for in July. By forming a PAC, Coinbase signaled it planned to engage more directly in U.S. political activity, including fundraising and supporting or opposing candidates.
Separately, about a month earlier, Gemini (the Winklevoss brothers’ cryptocurrency exchange), Bitstamp, Bittrex, and BitFlyer announced plans to form a self-regulatory organization (SRO) called the Virtual Commodity Association (VCA), intended to oversee aspects of the cryptocurrency market. Notably, Coinbase did not join that effort.
Modeled loosely on the stock market’s regulatory structures, the VCA aims to develop common standards and coordinate responses to regulatory announcements. The SRO would propose industry best practices, explore ways to increase market liquidity, and work to prevent manipulation.
Whether and how the VCA and the Blockchain Association will coordinate to advance the crypto industry remains to be seen.