In direct spending on lobbying, Facebook has spent $7.5 million so far this year, according to OpenSecrets.
Compare that figure with a company like Procter & Gamble, who spent just under $3 million in the same way and concurrently deal with dozens more regulatory agencies than Facebook ever will.
Facebook has been under fire as a result of its Libra cryptocurrency project, which some US regulators believe will create everything from a “shadow banking” system to a money launderer’s paradise.
Blockchain: Facebook’s New Grind
As if such locations didn’t exist already, with some small nations playing host to many billions of dollars per year.
Facebook, as one of the largest companies in Silicon Valley, has a sort of social responsibility to push Washington players in directions that favor technology.
Earlier this month, the company reportedly added two lobbyists just for the blockchain/Libra effort.
It so happens that Facebook’s new lobbying efforts may benefit the crypto industry in ways that could be hard to predict.
Worth watching, as regards cryptocurrency and blockchain technology regulation, is the outcome of the Token Taxonomy Act. The Act would essentially move cryptocurrency out of the gray areas it presently operates in — wherein multiple agencies claim jurisdiction over it — and move it into a clearer, more inviting operating environment.
Plot Twist: Facebook Becomes Best Friends With Cryptocurrency
Facebook’s predicted lobbying efforts could push things in the direction blockchain believers would like to see them go. It’s tough to say whether this would balance the many privacy scandals Facebook has seen over the years.
The bottom line is that if cryptos can ride the coattails of tech heavyweights like Facebook, it could stand a fighting chance of being accepted, rather than relented to.
Just like the Internet, filesharing, marijuana, or anything else that the people see true value in, it’s ludicrous to argue that you can legislate or police crypto technology out of existence.
Therefore, it’s not currently a matter of if, but when and how, Facebook’s Libra project will see the light of day, regardless of what any pundit says.
More to the point for the crypto community, though, is how such moves will affect the market they hold so dear, along with the assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum that float it continually.
