The policy infrastructure of the crypto industry has matured significantly over the past decade.

From a single think tank in Washington, it has evolved into a comprehensive network comprising trade associations, advocacy groups, and specialized lobbying entities dedicated to individual ecosystems.

The current landscape encompasses both broad-based industry coalitions and niche advocates focused on specific blockchains, each playing distinct roles in advancing regulatory clarity.

In February 2026, Hyperliquid Policy Center was formally established, marking the latest addition; prior to that, Solana Policy Institute had launched in 2025.

Let’s dive into: which institutions are shaping the discourse within Washington’s crypto policy power center.

Coin Center (2014)

The earliest crypto policy think tank.

Coin Center has cultivated deep roots in Washington for over a decade, consistently advocating for open blockchain networks and user rights, and remains the most libertarian-leaning institution in the industry.

Diverging from organizations 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 tax compliance.

Its core 2026 objectives include:

· Advancing the “Keep Your Coins Act,” prohibiting federal bans on self-custody;

· Supporting the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), clarifying that developers who do not hold user funds should not be classified as money transmitters;

· Proposing detailed tax reform: establishing a $600 threshold for small-transaction tax exemption, simplifying cost basis reporting, and taxing staking rewards only upon sale—not upon receipt.

Staking reward taxation is a universal pain point across the industry.

Currently, the U.S. IRS treats newly minted tokens from staking as immediate income, forcing validators to pay taxes even before selling any assets, resulting in extremely high compliance costs.

Coin Center argues that staking rewards should be treated like other generated assets—taxed only upon disposal.

Blockchain Association (BA, 2018)

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

If Coin Center speaks from principle, the Blockchain Association operates via coalition model—aligning member interests and translating them into legislative priorities.

Current key focuses include:

· Tax parity, market structure legislation, DeFi protection;

· Formal release of tax principles, calling for small-transaction exemptions, treating stablecoins as cash equivalents, and domesticating perpetual contracts;

· Full support for BRCA and broader developer protection provisions.

DeFi Education Fund (DEF, 2021)

Originally founded through Uniswap governance funding, exclusively focused on decentralized finance.

Its work revolves around 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 abuse tools, opposing the forced integration of developers into regulatory frameworks designed for custodial intermediaries. Consistent with Coin Center and the Blockchain Association, DEF strongly supports BRCA (the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act).

At the user level:

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

DEF’s approach is more legal and research-oriented: filing amicus briefs, submitting regulatory comments, publishing educational analyses, operating the high-impact DeFi Debrief newsletter, and continuously pushing to incorporate BRCA into broader market structure legislation.

Solana Policy Institute (2025)

The first dedicated policy entity for a public blockchain ecosystem, co-founded by former DEF CEO and former BA CEO.

While sharing core industry goals (developer protection, staking tax reform), it is closely aligned with Solana’s strategic ecosystem needs.

Core agenda highlights:

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

· Supporting the “Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act”: broadening the definition of accredited investors beyond wealth thresholds to include knowledge-based qualifications. The institute notes that current rules exclude 87% of Americans from private markets.

Hyperliquid Policy Center (2026)

The newest and most vertically focused crypto policy institution, established with a $29 million grant from the Hyper Foundation, with one singular mission: enabling compliant perpetual futures trading within the U.S.

Led by a former Chief Policy Officer of the Blockchain Association, HPC precisely targets the regulatory void surrounding decentralized derivatives—this being Hyperliquid’s core business and one of the fastest-growing segments in crypto.

Institutional objective:

To educate policymakers on the mechanics of non-custodial trading protocols and drive the adoption of regulatory frameworks that eliminate the need for intermediaries.

Strategic timing:

The Clarity Act has stalled in the Senate; HPC seizes this window to shape regulators’ understanding of DeFi derivatives.

Core argument:

Perpetual contract markets will inevitably flow overseas or to decentralized protocols—America must either establish a framework to compete, or cede the market entirely.

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

Industry-wide Consensus and Divergence

Although these five institutions differ in focus and scope, they align strongly on core objectives:

Shared Goals:

· Developer protection: nearly all support BRCA, affirming that developers who do not custody funds are not money transmitters;

· Staking tax reform: block rewards/staking rewards taxed only upon sale, not upon receipt;

· User self-custody rights; small-transaction tax exemptions.

Divergent Priorities:

· Coin Center: adheres to foundational principles, focusing on privacy and user rights;

· Blockchain Association: coordinates interests across 100+ industry members;

· DeFi Education Fund: specializes in granular DeFi regulation and legal support;

· Solana / Hyperliquid policy entities: ecosystem-specific, with agendas tightly aligned with their core business (securities tokenization, perpetual contracts).

These institutions collectively define the industry’s foundational values while preserving dedicated pathways for advancing critical niche issues, signaling a shift in U.S. crypto policy from “unified voice” to a new era of professionalized, ecosystem-driven, and finely tuned regulatory engagement.

Original Title: Mapping Crypto's Lobbying Layer

Original Author: David Christopher, Bankless

Original Translation: Saoirse, Foresight News