INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Cryptocurrency Firms Launch D.C. Lobbying Group Called Blockchain Association

By Samantha Chang
Published on: 10:57 PST, Sep 11, 2018

Watch out, Washington. A lobbying group launched by three of the biggest cryptocurrency companies in the United States is rolling out in D.C.

The move signals that the cryptocurrency industry is taking concrete steps to promote more mainstream adoption of virtual currencies as the budding ecosystem seeks to become power players in the nation’s capital.

Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, is a member of the lobbying group, which is called the Blockchain Association, Politico reported.

Circle, a provider of blockchain-based payment services; Protocol Labs, an internet technology company; and the Digital Currency Group are also among the first members of the lobbying arm.

The Blockchain Association will formally announce itself later this week in Washington and will lobby lawmakers about expanding the virtual currency industry. So far the Blockchain Association’s initial hires include:

  • Tech entrepreneur Josh Mendelsohn
  • Republican lobbyist Kristin Smith, and
  • Marvin Ammori, general counsel for Protocol Labs.

DOJ Launched Probe Into Bitcoin Price Manipulation

The move comes amid growing regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, whose erratic price movements have drawn heavy criticism.

In May 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into bitcoin price manipulation.

Hours after the news broke, bitcoin prices tanked amid concerns that cryptocurrency traders are manipulating the price of bitcoin and other digital currencies by flooding the market with fake orders in a bid to manipulate other traders into buying or selling.

Bitcoin skeptics have said they wouldn’t be surprised to find instances of fraud given the opaque, unregulated nature of the virtual currency market.

Bill Gates And Warren Buffett Hate Crypto

Billionaire moguls like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have expressed disdain for bitcoin, saying the entire cryptocurrency market is little more than speculative gambling that only attracts criminals, as the Inquisitr previously reported.

Buffett, whose net worth tops $88 billion, said he does not consider buying bitcoin investing.

“You aren’t investing when you [buy cryptocurrency]. You’re speculating,” Buffett said. “There’s nothing wrong with it. If you wanna gamble, somebody else will come along and pay more money tomorrow. That’s one kind of game. But that is not investing.”

Despite naysayers like Warren Buffett, other billionaires, like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and venture capitalist Tim Draper, insist that cryptocurrencies are the wave of the future.

Draper, an early investor in Skype, Tesla, and Hotmail, says bitcoin will be bigger than all three combined, as the Inquisitr has reported.

“This is bigger than the internet. It’s bigger than the Iron Age, the Renaissance,” said Draper. “It’s bigger than the Industrial Revolution. This affects the entire world and it’s going to be affected in a faster and more prevalent way than you ever imagined.”

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