Crypto industry gave $8 million to Clarity Act lobbyists who didn't close the deal
Source: CoinDesk ·
From the source
In the first half of this year, the sector poured millions into lobbying, with most of it tied to pushing the U.S. market structure bill to a goal it never reached. The crypto industry has become famous for its spending on elections and boasts an array of expensive booster organizations, but it also sought to convert almost $8 million into political results this year through direct lobbying on its central pursuit: getting a law to regulate the U.S. digital assets markets. In the first half of 2026, the sector's paid advocates swarmed Capitol Hill as the U.S. Senate worked on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. About half of those registered lobbyists work as direct crypto firm employees and the rest came from outside shops or the industry's trade associations. That expensive army has so far failed to accomplish its mission . In a CoinDesk analysis of federal lobbyist disclosures, the industry spent more than $13 million on lobbying in that six-month period. Most of that — $8…