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Caught Our Eye

Coinbase adds Senate staffer amid crypto overhaul

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on June 7, 2022

Cryptocurrency-exchange platform Coinbase has picked up Sen. Gary Peters' (D-Mich.) top economic staffer, just as the Senate's proposed regulatory overhaul grips the cryptocurrency industry.

Josh Fendrick starts soon as a manager for U.S. policy at Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange. Like other cryptocurrency power players, Coinbase ramped up its federal lobbying program last year. The industry's lobbying has since reached a "fever pitch," as Politico reported yesterday.

Fendrick's hire comes just as Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduce their much-hyped Responsible Financial Innovation Act, which would reportedly give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulatory powers over the cryptocurrency market.

Fendrick was most recently a legislative assistant to Peters, who sits on the Senate Commerce Committee. He's also served as an economic policy adviser to Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a member of the House Financial Services Committee.