Introduction
Major cryptocurrency exchanges significantly increased their lobbying expenditures in the European Union during 2024, with Kraken’s parent company Payward leading the industry charge by spending between $323,000 and $430,000. This surge in political influence efforts coincides with the full implementation of the EU’s landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on December 30, 2024, creating a new regulatory landscape that has prompted crypto firms to bolster their Brussels presence.
Key Points
- Payward's lobbying budget increased by approximately $108,000 year-over-year, representing one of the largest jumps among crypto firms
- The EU's Transparency Register requires firms to disclose lobbying budgets and staff, revealing crypto exchanges employed multiple full-time equivalent lobbyists
- MiCA's full implementation in December 2024 created the first comprehensive EU-wide crypto framework, driving increased regulatory engagement from industry players
Leading Crypto Exchanges Ramp Up Lobbying Efforts
According to data from corporate interest watchdogs Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl, Payward, which operates the Kraken exchange, topped the crypto industry’s lobbying spenders with expenditures between $323,000 and $430,000 (€299,999–€399,999) in 2024. This represented a substantial increase of approximately $108,000 (€100,000) from the previous year and included 2.75 full-time-equivalent lobbyists on its payroll. The significant year-over-year increase reflects the growing importance of regulatory engagement for crypto firms operating in the European market.
Coinbase followed as the second-highest spender among crypto exchanges, allocating between $216,000 and $323,000 (€199,999–€299,999) to EU lobbying—another $108,000 (€100,000) increase from 2023. Despite this substantial budget, Coinbase employed only 0.7 full-time-equivalent lobbyists. The disparity between spending and staffing levels reflects how professional lobbyists working at agencies often serve multiple clients, with LobbyControl calculating employment numbers based on the percentage of workweek dedicated to each client.
Other major players maintained more consistent lobbying investments. Bitpanda spent between $54,000 and $108,000 (€50,000–€99,999), matching its previous year’s expenditure while employing two full-time lobbyists. Similarly, Binance, through its Binance France SAS subsidiary, allocated $54,000 to $108,000 (€50,000–€99,999) in 2024, unchanged from the prior year, with 0.4 full-time-equivalent lobbyists. These figures only represent direct lobbying of EU institutions like the European Commission, suggesting actual regulatory engagement spending could be substantially higher when including national financial regulators and governments.
MiCA Implementation Drives Regulatory Engagement
The timing of this lobbying surge aligns directly with the European Union’s implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which went fully into effect on December 30, 2024. This landmark legislation established the EU’s first bloc-wide regulatory framework for crypto assets, creating uniform rules across member states and fundamentally changing the operating environment for cryptocurrency businesses. The regulation’s comprehensive nature has compelled exchanges to increase their engagement with EU policymakers.
Meanwhile, the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) has warned member states to be particularly vigilant about financial crime risks ahead of the rollout of its new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) scheduled for July 1, 2027. This dual regulatory pressure—from both MiCA and upcoming AML requirements—has created a complex compliance landscape that crypto firms are navigating through increased lobbying and regulatory consultation.
According to legal experts who spoke with Decrypt, some cryptocurrency firms are attempting to sidestep certain MiCA provisions through tactics such as creating confusing ownership structures or engaging in ‘regulatory shopping’ to find the most favorable national supervisors. This regulatory arbitrage underscores the challenges of implementing uniform rules across the EU’s diverse financial markets and highlights why exchanges are investing more heavily in understanding and influencing the regulatory process.
Crypto Spending Dwarfed by Tech Giants
Despite the significant increases in crypto industry lobbying, these expenditures remain modest compared to established technology giants. Meta spent more than $10.7 million (€10 million) on EU lobbying—the highest of any company—according to the latest reports, with U.S. big tech firms dominating overall lobbying expenditures in Brussels. This spending gap illustrates the relative maturity and resources of different sectors engaging with EU regulators.
Digital banking giant Revolut, while not technically a cryptocurrency exchange, provides one of the bloc’s most popular crypto trading services and spent between $323,000 and $430,000 (€300,000–€399,999) on EU lobbying while employing 1.4 full-time-equivalent lobbyists. Revolut’s comparable spending to dedicated crypto exchanges demonstrates how traditional financial services firms with crypto offerings are facing similar regulatory pressures and making proportional investments in regulatory engagement.
The EU’s Transparency Register requires all firms lobbying EU institutions to register and disclose information about their clients, budgets, and staff, providing the transparency that enabled this analysis. The register reveals that many of the world’s largest crypto exchanges now employ the equivalent of multiple full-time lobbyists, with numerous firms increasing their spending by approximately 25% year-over-year as they adapt to the new regulatory reality shaped by MiCA and upcoming financial crime regulations.
📎 Related coverage from: decrypt.co