Written by: David Christopher
Compiled by: Saoirse, Foresight News
The policy infrastructure of the crypto industry has matured considerably over the past decade.
From a single think tank in Washington D.C. initially, it has developed into a complete network comprising industry associations, advocacy organizations, and ecosystem-specific lobbying entities.
The current landscape includes both comprehensive industry groups and specialized advocates focused on single ecosystems, each playing different roles in the process of promoting regulatory clarity.
In February 2026, the Hyperliquid Policy Center was officially established, becoming the newest member; prior to this, the Solana Policy Institute had already debuted in 2025.
Let's take a closer look: which organizations are the voices within Washington's crypto policy power centers.
Coin Center (2014)
The earliest crypto policy think tank.
Coin Center has been deeply involved in Washington for over a decade, consistently advocating for open blockchain networks and user rights, and is also the most ideologically libertarian-leaning institution in the industry.
Unlike other organizations that focus on industry interests, Coin Center insists on prioritizing individual users: defending users' rights to self-custody, privacy protection, and the right to use crypto assets without being burdened by cumbersome tax obligations.
Its core goals for 2026 include:
- Promoting the 'Keep Your Coins Act' to prohibit the federal government from banning self-custody;
- Supporting the 'Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act' (BRCA), clarifying that developers who do not custody user funds should not be considered money transmitters;
- Proposing detailed tax reforms: establishing a $600 de minimis exemption threshold for small transactions, simplifying cost basis reporting, and taxing staking rewards only upon sale, not upon receipt.
The taxation of staking rewards is a common pain point across the industry.
Currently, the U.S. IRS treats newly generated tokens from staking as current income, requiring validators to pay taxes even before selling any assets, resulting in extremely high compliance costs.
Coin Center advocates for treating staking rewards like other generated assets: taxed only upon sale.
Blockchain Association (BA, 2018)
The largest crypto industry association in the U.S., representing over 100 member institutions, including exchanges, mining companies, DeFi protocols, and infrastructure service providers.
If Coin Center speaks based on ideology, the Blockchain Association operates in a coalition model: coordinating member interests and translating them into legislative priorities.
Current key focuses include:
- Tax equality, market structure legislation, DeFi protection;
- Formally releasing tax principles, calling for de minimis exemptions, treating stablecoins as cash equivalents, and domesticating perpetual contracts;
- Full support for BRCA and broader developer protection clauses.
DeFi Education Fund (DEF, 2021)
Initially established with a grant from Uniswap governance, specifically focused on decentralized finance.
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 misuse tools, opposing the forced fitting of developers into regulatory frameworks designed for custodial intermediaries. Consistent with Coin Center and the Blockchain Association, DEF also strongly supports BRCA (the 'Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act').
At the user level:
Promoting the right to self-custody, privacy protection, reducing reliance on trusted third parties, and emphasizing financial inclusion—permissionless networks allow users to bypass gatekeepers and freely access financial services.
DEF's working style is more legal and research-oriented: submitting amicus curiae briefs, regulatory comments, publishing educational interpretations, operating the high-impact 'DeFi Debrief' newsletter, and continuously pushing for BRCA to be included in overall market structure legislation.
Solana Policy Institute (2025)
The first policy institution dedicated to a public blockchain ecosystem within the industry, co-founded by the former CEO of the DeFi Education Fund and the former CEO of the Blockchain Association.
It shares core demands (developer protection, staking tax reform) with the entire industry while closely serving the strategic interests of the Solana ecosystem.
Core distinctive agendas:
- Project Open: Promoting a security tokenization pilot, allowing issuers to register equity as digital tokens on public chains, achieving instant settlement and transparent ownership records, positioning Solana as infrastructure for scaling traditional capital markets;
- Supporting the 'Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act': Expanding the definition of accredited investors, moving beyond wealth thresholds to include knowledge qualifications. The institute points out that current rules exclude 87% of Americans from the private market.
Hyperliquid Policy Center (2026)
The newest and most narrowly focused crypto policy institution, established with a $29 million endowment from the Hyper Foundation, with the sole core mission: making perpetual futures compliant and available domestically in the U.S.
Led by the former Chief Policy Officer of the Blockchain Association, HPC precisely targets the regulatory gap for decentralized derivatives—this is Hyperliquid's core business and one of the fastest-growing sectors in the crypto industry.
Institutional goals:
Educating policymakers on the operational logic of non-custodial trading protocols and promoting a regulatory framework that does not require intermediary custody.
The timing is highly strategic:
With the 'Clarity Act' stalled in the Senate, HPC seizes the window to specifically shape regulators' understanding of DeFi derivatives.
Its core argument:
The perpetual contracts market will flow overseas and to decentralized protocols regardless; the U.S. must either establish a framework to compete or completely cede the market.
Data shows that perpetual contract trading volume reached $92.7 trillion in 2025.
Industry-wide Consensus and Differences
Although the five institutions have different positioning and scopes, they are highly aligned on core demands:
Common goals:
- Developer protection: Almost all support BRCA, clarifying that developers who do not custody funds are not money transmitters;
- Staking tax reform: Block rewards / staking rewards taxed upon sale, not upon receipt;
- User self-custody rights;
- De minimis exemption for small transactions.
Divergent directions:
- Coin Center: Adheres to principles, focuses on privacy and user rights;
- Blockchain Association: Coordinates the interests of over 100 industry members;
- DeFi Education Fund: Focuses deeply on DeFi-specific regulation and legal support;
- Solana / Hyperliquid policy institutions: Ecosystem-specific, with agendas closely tied to their core businesses (security tokenization, perpetual contracts).
These institutions collectively define the industry's core values, while simultaneously preserving specialized advancement space for key niche issues, marking the U.S. crypto industry's transition from 'unified voice' to an era of 'specialized, ecosystem-driven, and refined' policy博弈 (game theory / competition).
