It has come to light that stablecoin issuers have spent approximately $1.3 million lobbying lawmakers since the start of 2022. Over the previous few weeks, stablecoins have become the center of attention as pressure continues to build up on them regarding a regulatory framework. Tether resorts to the use of the law offices of Michael Jason Lee for all of its lobbying efforts, which are carried out via FTI government affairs.
Based on the data shared by ProPublica, Tether has spent around $600,000 since the start of 2022, coupled with a quarterly spend of approximately $120,000 for lobbying the US Senate, along with the House of Representatives. Similarly, these lobbying efforts can be linked to supporting the legislation surrounding stablecoins. Tether is responsible for issuing the world’s highly dominant stablecoin, USDT. The coin has a total market share of a whopping 63% and has a circulation of around $83 billion.
Furthermore, Tether spent an extra sum of $270,000 on its lobbying efforts during the first quarter of this year. At the same time, Circle does not seem to be falling behind as it has also been spending a considerable chunk on its lobbying efforts. Circle initiated its lobbying with Invariant by the end of 2022. Data shows that the stablecoin issuer has spent more than $560,000 since then.
The Lobbying Trend Among Stablecoin Issuers
Circle has currently lobbied the Senate, the House of Representatives, the SEC, the CFTC, and many more, and has a quarterly lobbying budget of $100,000. Circle is responsible for issuing the world’s second-largest stablecoin, USDC, which has a supply of almost 22.6% in the market.
At the same time, Paxos has spent approximately $300,000 on its lobbying efforts since its beginning in early 2022. The firm seeks the services of Mindset for its lobbying efforts revolving around drafting the stablecoin legislation.
With the continuous lobbying efforts, the overall lobbying expenses in the crypto industry have surged by a whopping 120% within the US. However, the total amount spent by stablecoin issuers is merely a fraction of the amount that is spent on lobbying efforts by crypto firms. Coinbase is reported to have spent over $5.5 million, whereas Binance spent almost $1 million in 2022.
