Crypto.com is one of the top CEXes (top2 after Coinbase) in terms of the budget spent on lobbying US regulators, data shows. A look at the lobbying spend of Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Kraken.

CDC spent over 1.5 million on lobbying in the US this year, and almost 3 million between 2022 and 2023, according to the OpenSecrets database. Its lobbying budget exclusively pertains to the securities and investment industry. This information indicates that CDC is either pushing for full regulatory approval or approval of some of its smaller products like the recently launched CFTC-approved Strike Options and UpDown Options.

In addition to that, Steve Humenik, the Global Head of Derivatives Legal at CDC, was appointed to the CFTC Global Markets Advisory Committee Digital Assets Market Subcommittee, and the exchange also acquired CFTC-regulated derivs exchange.

Crypto.com lobbying spend 2022-2023

The lobbying spend of Coinbase has slightly decreased in 2023 but is still up considerably in the last three years when compared to the period between 2015-2023. Coinbase is the CEX with the largest lobbying budget in 2023, according to the available data.

Coinbase has recently secured approval to bring federally regulated crypto futures trading to eligible US customers from the CFTC.

Coinbase lobbying spend 2015-2023

The lobbying expenditure of Kraken has doubled from 440k in 2022 to 888k in 2023. This ramping up of the lobbying budget indicates that Kraken might now view lobbying regulators more important, considering the fact that we seem to be at the inflection point in terms of crypto regulation in the US, or that the exchange tries to achieve some partial goal (my guess is more robust derivs trading).

Kraken lobbying spend 2022-2023

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Coingeckos 2023 top10 crypto lobbying spenders list