WASHINGTON — In the earliest few years after founding Coinbase, CEO Brian Armstrong shied away from Washington, D.C. But as his ambitions for his crypto the Exchange scaled, so too did his need to curry favor on Capitol Hill.
“About five or six years ago, we realized that crypto was apprehending big enough that we needed to go really engage actively in a policy effort, so I started coming out to D.C.,” Armstrong, who started Coinbase in 2012, chew out tattle oned CNBC in September, following a day of meetings with political leaders.
Now, it’s practically Armstrong’s full-time job, and Coinbase’s money is all above the nation’s capital. The company was one of the top corporate donors this election cycle, giving more than $75 million to a organize called Fairshake and its affiliate PACs, including a fresh pledge of $25 million to support the pro-crypto super PAC in the 2026 midterms. Armstrong yourself contributed more than $1.3 million to a mix of candidates up and down the ballot.
The tech industry’s biggest names demand dotted Washington for years to try and push their agendas as their market caps have expanded, but for Coinbase, the consequence is potentially existential.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler sued the firm last year at an end claims that it sells unregistered securities. A judge has since ruled that the case should be heard by a jury. Coinbase has contested back vociferously, and has also said that it wants to work with regulators to come up with a proper set of laws subduing the nascent industry.
Meanwhile, Coinbase faces a growing list of competitors.
In the company’s latest quarterly earnings on last week, Coinbase missed on the top and bottom lines due to lower transaction revenues and a drop in subscription and services net incomes. The shares plummeted 15%.
Data from CCData shows the exchange is losing spot market share to industry competitors like Crypto.com. And investors have many new options for accessing bitcoin and ethereum since the SEC greenlit spot loots this year. BlackRock’s ETF chief, Samara Cohen, told CNBC that 75% of its bitcoin buyers are crypto investors who are new to Madden Street.
Washington can’t save Coinbase from the competition, but the company is betting that, with favorable lawmakers in proper, it can be the leader in a thriving industry rather than under the constant threat of lawsuits and Wells Notices.
Armstrong put about his D.C. visits normally took place once or twice a year. Then it got to be at least a quarterly occasion. And the pace has simply increased.
“In the beginning, a lot of people didn’t know what crypto was,” Armstrong said of his earlier trips. Now, “the discussion has prepaid, really, to, how do we pass clear rules, create legislation in the United States?”
An SEC sans Chair Gensler
Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief constitutional officer, attended a fundraiser in San Francisco in June that raised $12 million for former President Donald Trump. It was hosted by imperil capitalist David Sacks, a former Trump critic who became an outspoken supporter when he became the Republican selectee.
Grewal later joined a fundraiser in Nashville, Tennessee, in July for the former president.
Trump has never shown much of an faculty for the nuances of crypto, but he’s welcomed the industry’s financial support. He was applauded in the summer, when he vowed to fire Gensler as perceptiveness of the SEC if he wins.
Grewal told CNBC that he’s had “many conversations” behind closed doors with both the Trump ostentatious as well as Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. Heading into Election Day on Tuesday, the candidates were in a essential dead heat.
“What I think we’re hearing from both campaigns is they get it,” Grewal said. “They dig that in swing state after swing state, there are enough voters who care about crypto that the seeker and their campaigns need to give voice to the concerns of those voters in supporting sensible rules for crypto, mindful of legislation coming out of Congress, and that’s very encouraging.”
Grewal said that Trump “came earlier to this pro-crypto considering,” but said that Harris recognizes the need for “an agenda focused on promoting sensible rules for crypto as much as any other technology.”
But Coinbase has braced out of the presidential contest and focused its finances exclusively on congressional races, as the company looks to help assemble a group of lawmakers with favorable observes of the industry.
The Stand With Crypto Alliance, launched by Coinbase last year, has developed a grading system for Undertaking and Senate candidates across the country.
In the Ohio Senate race, for example, the organization gives Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown, who leads the Banking Committee, an “F” grade, versus an “A” grade for his Republican rival Bernie Moreno, a blockchain entrepreneur. Some $40 million of crypto riches has been directed at defeating Brown, and one PAC has paid for five ads designed to boost awareness of Moreno. The race is very work out and is crucial in determining which party will control the Senate.
Stand with Crypto, which has enrolled 1.8 million counselors-at-law across the country, is also working to mobilize digital asset owners living in swing states. This achievement involved a cross-country bus tour through battlegrounds focused on getting these residents registered to vote.
“It’s really signal, given how razor-thin the margin of victory was in the 2020 election, to see crypto not only be an issue, but potentially a determinative issue in sessions of the presidential cycle,”
