Washington crypto policy groups expand as specialized advocacy grows

Written by: David Christopher

Compiled by Saoirse, Foresight News

The policy infrastructure of the cryptocurrency industry has become quite mature over the past decade.

From a single think tank in Washington, it has grown into a comprehensive network comprising industry associations, advocacy groups, and ecosystem-specific lobbying organizations.

The current landscape includes both comprehensive industry groups and specialized advocates focused on individual ecosystems, each playing distinct roles in advancing regulatory clarity.

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

Let’s take a deeper look: which institutions are speaking out in Washington’s center of crypto policy power.

The earliest crypto policy think tank.

Coin Center has been based in Washington for over a decade, consistently advocating for open blockchain networks and user rights, and is the industry’s most libertarian-leaning organization.

Unlike other organizations focused on industry interests, Coin Center prioritizes representing individual users: defending users' rights to self-custody, privacy, and the use of crypto assets without being burdened by excessive taxation.

Its core objectives for 2026 include:

• Advocate for the Keep Your Coins Act to prohibit the federal government from banning self-custody;
• Support the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), which clarifies that developers who do not hold user funds should not be classified as money transmitters;
• Propose detailed tax reform: establish a $600 de minimis threshold for small transactions, simplify cost basis reporting, and tax staking rewards only upon sale, not upon receipt.

Taxation of staking rewards is a universal industry challenge.

Currently, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service treats newly minted tokens from staking as immediate income, requiring validators to pay taxes even when they haven't sold any assets, resulting in very high compliance costs.

Coin Center advocates treating staking rewards like other income-generating assets: taxed only upon sale.

The largest cryptocurrency trade association in the United States, representing over 100 member organizations, including exchanges, mining companies, DeFi protocols, and infrastructure providers.

While Coin Center speaks from a principle-based perspective, the Blockchain Association operates through a coalition model: aligning member interests and translating them into legislative priorities.

Current priorities include:

• Tax equality, market structure legislation, DeFi protection;
• Officially release tax principles, advocating for tax exemptions on small amounts, treating stablecoins as cash equivalents, and localizing perpetual contracts;
• Fully support BRCA and broader developer protection provisions.

Originally established by a Uniswap governance grant, with a specific focus on decentralized finance.

Our work centers on three pillars: protecting software developers, empowering DeFi users, and defending permissionless blockchains.

At the developer level:

DEF argues that builders should be exempt from liability when third parties misuse tools, opposing the forced application of regulatory frameworks designed for custodial intermediaries to developers. In alignment with Coin Center and the Blockchain Association, DEF also strongly supports the BRCA (Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act).

At the user level:

Promote self-custody, privacy protection, reduced reliance on trusted third parties, and emphasize financial inclusion—permissionless networks enable users to bypass gatekeepers and access financial services freely.

DEF operates more toward legal and research efforts: filing amicus briefs, submitting regulatory comments, publishing educational explanations, running the high-impact DeFi Debrief newsletter, and continuously advocating for BRCA’s inclusion in the broader market structure legislation.

The industry's first policy organization dedicated to public chain ecosystems, co-founded by the former CEO of the DeFi Education Fund and the former CEO of the Blockchain Association.

It shares core industry priorities—developer protection and staking tax reform—while closely supporting Solana’s ecosystem strategy.

Key Features Agenda:

• Project Open: Drive the pilot of securities tokenization by allowing issuers to register equity as digital tokens on public blockchains, enabling instant settlement and transparent ownership records, positioning Solana as infrastructure for scaling traditional capital markets.
• Support the All Investors Equal Opportunity Act: Expand the definition of accredited investors to include knowledge-based qualifications, not just wealth thresholds. The agency notes that current rules exclude 87% of Americans from private markets.

The newest and most vertically focused crypto policy organization, funded with $29 million by the Hyper Foundation, has one core mission: to enable the compliant launch of perpetual futures in the United States.

Led by the former Chief Policy Officer of the Blockchain Association, HPC is precisely targeting the regulatory gap in decentralized derivatives—the core business of Hyperliquid and one of the fastest-growing sectors in the crypto industry.

Institutional objective:

Educate policymakers on how non-custodial trading protocols work to promote regulatory frameworks that do not require intermediary custody.

The timing is highly strategic:

The Clarity Act is stalled in the Senate; HPC is seizing the window of opportunity to shape regulators' understanding of DeFi derivatives.

Its core argument:

The perpetual futures market will inevitably flow toward overseas and decentralized protocols; the U.S. must either establish a framework to compete or fully cede the market.

Data shows that the trading volume of perpetual contracts reached $92.7 trillion in 2025.

Although the five institutions differ in their positioning and scope, they are highly aligned in their core objectives:

Common goal:

• Developer protection: Almost all BRCA supporters explicitly state that developers who do not hold funds are not money transmitters;
• Staking Tax Reform: Block rewards / staking rewards are taxed upon sale, not upon receipt;
• User self-custody rights;
• Small transactions are exempt from taxation.

Direction of difference:

• Coin Center: Staying true to its principles, focusing on privacy and user rights;
• Blockchain Association: Coordinate the interests of 100+ industry members;
• DeFi Education Fund: Deepening focus on DeFi-specific regulation and legal support;
• Solana / Hyperliquid Policy Unit: Ecosystem-specific, with agendas closely aligned with the core business of the ecosystem (securities tokenization, perpetual contracts).

These institutions collectively define the foundational values of the industry while preserving dedicated spaces for advancing key specialized issues, marking the U.S. crypto industry’s transition from a “unified voice” to an era of professionalized, ecosystem-driven, and nuanced policy engagement.