Crypto policy advocate says industry's bipartisan Washington playbook is working and should not be abandoned

Crypto's Washington playbook is working, says Solana Policy Institute's Colin McLaren

Colin McLaren of the Solana Policy Institute has published an opinion column in CoinDesk arguing that the crypto industry's years-long strategy of educating and engaging Congress is working, and that the industry should keep following it regardless of how the upcoming midterms or the 2028 presidential race turn out.

McLaren writes that four years ago crypto had few friends in Washington and lost what he says was nearly half a billion dollars to investigations and lawsuits under a "regulation-by-enforcement" approach. He argues the industry responded by making its case in Congress instead of only fighting in court, and that this patient effort has produced results.

Note that this is an opinion column. The votes and laws described below are reported by the author; the recommendations for the future are his view, not confirmed fact.

Key points from the column

• Since 2022, crypto advocates have briefed congressional candidates from both parties on what cryptocurrency is and what stands in the way of clear rules.
• Industry groups cited by the author include the Blockchain Association, DeFi Education Fund, Stand With Crypto, Crypto Council for Innovation, American Innovation Project, and Solana Policy Institute.
• The author credits this engagement with several legislative wins, including the first crypto-specific law in US history.
• He expects Democrats to win the House and possibly the Senate in the midterm elections, creating both moderating pressure and a more skeptical progressive bloc.
• He calls the 2028 election likely the most consequential for the technology and urges engagement to start now.

The voting record the column cites

According to the author, Republicans have delivered near-unanimous majorities on every crypto vote of the past two years, while Democrats supplied the growth in support. He points to 21 House Democrats voting to overturn SAB 121 (an accounting rule that made it costly for banks to hold crypto for clients), and 76 backing repeal of the broker rule, which he says showed lawmakers understood that software is not an intermediary like a centralized company.

He also cites a critical mass of House Democrats supporting the CLARITY and GENIUS bills, and 18 Senate Democrats helping GENIUS overcome a filibuster, which is a procedural hurdle that can block a bill unless 60 senators agree to advance it. GENIUS became the first federal stablecoin law. A stablecoin is a digital token designed to hold a fixed value, typically pegged to a currency like the US dollar. The broker rule repeal, which became the first crypto-specific law in American history, passed before that.

On tax, the author reports that the House Ways and Means committee approved a digital asset tax bill 38–5 and defeated an amendment to bring back the broker rule.

He adds that without a market framework from Congress, regulators have temporarily filled the gap: the SEC issued its Regulation Crypto and innovation exemption, the CFTC proposed a structure for trading crypto on regulated exchanges, and agencies issued rules to implement GENIUS, all under Republican leadership.

What the author expects from the midterms

The author writes that markets, polls, and pundits suggest Democrats will take the House and possibly the Senate. He sees two opposing forces at work. First, moderation by necessity: Democrats would win the House by capturing districts that voted for President Trump, and members holding those seats must answer to moderate, pro-business constituencies. He notes moderate Democrats made up the majority of those who made crypto legislation bipartisan in the last two Congresses.

Second, he expects growing progressive energy in blue districts from a bloc skeptical of financial services and new technologies that will push for more punitive regulation.

In the Senate, he expects neither party to have a supermajority, which makes industry-backed legislation unlikely to pass but also lets crypto supporters block unfavorable bills. For the next two years, he writes, the SEC, CFTC, and other agencies will carry most of the crypto agenda through rulemaking.

The 2028 warning

The author argues that 2028 could be the most consequential election for the technology, because without market-structure legislation in place, the next administration's agency leaders could roll back recent advances. He says both presidential fields are crowded with no clear frontrunner, and the race effectively begins the day after November 3.

On the Democratic side, he says there will be a stark contrast among candidates on crypto, and that early engagement could help prevent a return to an anti-crypto SEC chair like Gary Gensler or a successor in that mold. On the Republican side, he says the industry must ensure the pro-innovation leadership template set by SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig carries into the next administration rather than ending with the current one.

Why this matters

The column's core argument is that crypto policy will not be settled by one election or one bill. The author says incoming lawmakers from across the political spectrum will make these decisions over the coming decade, and that the industry's best interest lies in planning on a decades-long timeline rather than around election cycles. He adds that the next chapter will be decided by the relationships built, the arguments made, and the groundwork laid before votes are cast.

Sources

• CoinDesk