The Washington influence in the crypto circle

Written by: David Christopher

Translated by: Saoirse, Foresight News

The policy infrastructure for the crypto industry has become quite mature over the past decade.

It has evolved from a single think tank in Washington into a comprehensive network composed of industry associations, advocacy groups, and dedicated lobbying organizations for specific ecosystems.

Today’s landscape includes both broad industry groups and specialized advocates focused on individual ecosystems, each playing different roles in promoting clearer regulation.

In February 2026, Hyperliquid Policy Center was officially established as the newest member; prior to that, the Solana Policy Institute debuted in 2025.

Let’s take a closer look at which organizations are voicing their positions within Washington’s crypto policy power centers.

Coin Center (2014)

The earliest crypto policy think tank.

Coin Center has been deeply involved in Washington for over a decade, consistently advocating for open blockchain networks and user rights. It is also the most libertarian-leaning organization within the industry.

Unlike other groups centered on industry interests, Coin Center prioritizes representing individual users: defending self-custody rights, privacy protections, and the right to use crypto assets without burdensome taxes.

Its core goals for 2026 include:

• Promoting the “Hold Your Coins Act,” which prohibits the federal government from banning self-custody;

• Supporting the “Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act” (BRCA), clarifying that developers who do not custody user funds should not be considered money transmitters;

• Proposing detailed tax reforms: establishing a $600 exemption threshold for small transactions, simplifying cost basis reporting, and taxing staking rewards only upon sale, not at receipt.

Taxation of staking rewards remains a major industry pain point.

Currently, the IRS treats newly minted tokens from staking as current income, forcing validators to pay taxes before selling any assets, which incurs high compliance costs.

Coin Center advocates for treating staking rewards like other generated assets: taxed only upon sale.

Blockchain Association (BA, 2018)

The largest crypto industry association in the U.S., representing over 100 member organizations, including exchanges, mining companies, DeFi protocols, and infrastructure providers.

If Coin Center is driven by ideology, the Blockchain Association operates as a coalition: coordinating member interests and translating them into legislative priorities.

Current key focuses include:

• Tax equity, market structure legislation, DeFi protections;

• Officially releasing tax principles, advocating for small transaction exemptions, treating stablecoins as cash equivalents, and localizing perpetual contracts;

• Fully supporting BRCA and broader developer protection provisions.

DeFi Education Fund (DEF, 2021)

Initially funded through Uniswap governance grants, focusing specifically on decentralized finance.

Its work revolves around three pillars: protecting software developers, empowering DeFi users, and defending permissionless blockchains.

At the developer level:

DEF advocates that when third parties misuse tools, builders should be exempt from liability, opposing regulatory frameworks that force developers into custodial roles. Like Coin Center and the Blockchain Association, DEF strongly supports the BRCA.

At the user level:

Promoting self-custody rights, privacy protections, reducing reliance on trusted third parties, and emphasizing financial inclusion—allowing users to bypass gatekeepers and freely access financial services.

DEF’s approach is more legal and research-oriented: submitting amicus briefs, regulatory comments, publishing educational content, operating the influential DeFi Debrief newsletter, and continuously pushing for BRCA’s inclusion in broader market structure legislation.

Solana Policy Institute (2025)

The industry’s first dedicated policy organization for a public blockchain ecosystem, founded by former DeFi Education Fund CEO and former Blockchain Association CEO.

It shares core industry goals (developer protection, staking tax reform) while closely serving Solana’s ecosystem strategy.

Key initiatives include:

• Project Open: promoting securities tokenization pilots, allowing issuers to register equity as digital tokens on public chains, enabling instant settlement and transparent ownership records, positioning Solana as infrastructure for expanding traditional capital markets;

• Supporting the “Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act”: expanding the definition of accredited investors beyond wealth thresholds to include knowledge qualifications. The organization notes current rules exclude 87% of Americans from private markets.

Hyperliquid Policy Center (2026)

The newest and most vertically focused crypto policy organization, funded with $29 million by the Hyper Foundation. Its sole mission: to enable compliant onshore perpetual futures trading in the U.S.

Led by a former chief policy officer of the Blockchain Association, HPC targets the regulatory gaps in decentralized derivatives—Hyperliquid’s core business and one of the fastest-growing sectors in crypto.

Institutional goals:

• Educate policymakers on the operation of non-custodial trading protocols and promote a regulatory framework without intermediaries.

Strategic timing:

With the “Clarity Act” stalled in the Senate, HPC seized the window to shape regulatory perceptions of DeFi derivatives.

Main arguments:

• The perpetual contract market will inevitably move offshore and toward decentralized protocols; the U.S. must either establish a framework to compete or cede the market entirely.

Data shows that in 2025, perpetual trading volume reached $92.7 trillion.

Industry consensus and differences

Despite differing in scope and focus, these five organizations share highly aligned core demands:

Common goals:

• Developer protection: nearly all support the BRCA, clarifying that developers who do not custody funds are not money transmitters;

• Staking tax reform: taxing rewards upon sale, not receipt;

• User self-custody rights;

• Small transaction tax exemptions.

Differences:

• Coin Center: adheres strongly to principles, focusing on privacy and user rights;

• Blockchain Association: coordinates interests of over 100 members across the industry;

• DeFi Education Fund: specializes in DeFi-specific regulation and legal support;

• Solana / Hyperliquid policy groups: ecosystem-specific agendas closely aligned with their core business areas (securities tokenization, perpetual contracts).

Together, these organizations define the industry’s fundamental values while reserving space for targeted initiatives on key issues, marking a shift in the U.S. crypto policy landscape from “unified voice” to “specialized, ecosystem-driven, refined policy competition.”