Stablecoin issuers have spent over $1.3M lobbying Congress since 2022
Stablecoin issuers including Tether, Circle, and others have spent well over a million dollars lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill since the start of 2022, according to recent data.
Stablecoins have become the center of attention in Washington DC recently as pressure mounts to roll out a regulatory framework for dollar-pegged digital assets.
Tether uses the law offices of Michael Jason Lee for its lobbying efforts which are carried out through FTI Government Affairs, a consulting firm with bipartisan connections.
According to public interest outlet ProPublica, Tether has spent around $600,000 since the beginning of 2022 with a quarterly spend of $120,000 for lobbying the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The lobbying efforts have been to support legislation related to stablecoins. Tether issues the world’s dominant stablecoin, USDT, which has a market share of 63% and a circulation of $83 billion.
Government transparency group Open Secrets added that Tether spent another $270,000 on lobbying in the first quarter of 2023.
Meanwhile, rival stablecoin issuer Circle has also been spending big on lobbying efforts. The firm began lobbying with strategic consulting firm Invariant in late 2021 and has spent at least $560,000 since then, according to ProPublica.
Circle’s lobbying efforts have revolved around educating policymakers on its business model, educating members of Congress on stablecoin and cryptocurrency issues, and monitoring cryptocurrency proposals.
The company has lobbied the Senate, House of Representatives, Treasury, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Circle’s quarterly lobbying budget is currently $100,000.
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