Crypto Investment Firm Digital Currency Group Registers Executive as Lobbyist

The company's Grayscale unit has sued the SEC for rejecting its spot bitcoin ETF application.

Aug 16, 2022 at 4:58 p.m. UTC

Updated Aug 16, 2022 at 5:40 p.m. UTC

CDCROP: Barry Silbert. CEO & Founder Digital Currency Group (DCG) — Digital Currency Group founder and CEO Barry Silbert (CoinDesk)

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Digital Currency Group, which counts more than 150 crypto companies in its portfolio, has registered its vice president of public policy, Julie Stitzel, to lobby on its behalf with the U.S. federal government, according to disclosure filing on Monday. DCG owns CoinDesk.

The filing describes DCG’s business as to “support bitcoin and blockchain companies by leveraging insights, network and access to capital.”
The move suggests DCG will be getting more involved in lobbying efforts, particularly in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections. Stitzel was head of bitcoin policy at Block’s Cash App before she joined DCG in May.
One of DCG’s largest subsidiaries, digital asset manager Grayscale, filed a legal challenge against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June for rejecting its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund application and had been ramping up its legal team in anticipation of that decision.

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