A crypto lobbying group with little publicly available information is gearing up to advocate for digital assets ahead of this year’s US presidential election, according to a new report.
CNBC reports that a “mysterious” nonprofit called “The Cedar Innovation Foundation” was incorporated in Delaware in April.
The group’s website and account on the social media platform X offer no identifying information about its backers or employees, but CNBC, citing “people familiar with the matter,” says that top US crypto exchange Coinbase will likely donate funds to the nonprofit by the end of 2024.
The Cedar Innovation Foundation reportedly hired Mindset, which bills itself as “bipartisan public policy firm.” The lobbying company has previously worked for Goldman Sachs, Amazon Web Services, Aflac, Allstate, Barclays, Verizon and Wells Fargo, among other large firms, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan research group that tracks money in politics.
The nonprofit also hired Bullpen Strategy Group (BSG), a public affairs advocacy firm, according to CNBC. BSG is led by Joe Pounder, a veteran Republican operative.
Cedar has reportedly targeted crypto-critical US lawmakers like Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Roger Marshall (R-Kansas).
Josh Vlasto, a Cedar spokesman, tells CNBC that he hopes crypto-skeptic legislators “don’t bow to the Wall Street banks and their special interests.”
“The Cedar Innovation Foundation, a non-partisan organization, is committed to helping policymakers and the public understand the stakes at play, while giving regulators the tools they need during a time of transformative change.”
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