Key facts
- Coinbase spent roughly $2.2 million on lobbying in the first half of 2026.
- Kraken spent close to $1 million on lobbying in the first half of 2026.
- The CLARITY Act was rejected by the Senate with a 49-50 vote.
- Key sticking points for the CLARITY Act included ethics rules, banking opposition to stablecoin rewards, and DeFi provisions.
- The industry invested $190 million in a grassroots effort to push the CLARITY Act through.
Coinbase and major crypto industry groups reduced their lobbying expenditures in the third quarter of 2026, a pullback that followed the Senate's September 15 rejection of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Despite the quarterly decline, industry lobbying totals remained above $4 million for the sixth consecutive quarter. The CLARITY Act failed to advance, falling short of the 60 votes needed, with key disagreements centering on ethics rules for officials' crypto profits, banking opposition to stablecoin rewards, and DeFi provisions. Banking groups and New York lawyers had publicly opposed the bill, citing concerns that stablecoin yield provisions could drain bank deposits. The industry had previously invested heavily in market-structure advocacy, generating nearly 50,000 congressional contacts through Stand With Crypto. With the legislative path stalled, some lobbying firms have recalibrated their strategies, judging the near-term return on Washington spending as too uncertain. The focus is now shifting towards rulemaking by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which have initiated multiple rule-writing processes under existing authority.