With Daniel Lippman

CRYPTO.COM LOBBIES UP: Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has hired its first federal lobbyists as the industry continues to flock to the nation’s capital. Crypto.com has retained teams from Blue Star Strategies, Miller Strategies, K&L Gates and Sidley Austin in the past two months, in addition to bringing on the public affairs firm Hamilton Place Strategies and joining the industry’s largest trade group, the Blockchain Association.

— Blue Star’s Karen Tramontano, a Clinton White House alum, will lobby the executive branch and lawmakers on policies relevant to Crypto.com’s business goals, according to a disclosure filing. K&L Gates’ Dan Nuñez Cohen, a former aide to Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), will lobby for the exchange on crypto banking, financial services, tax and privacy issues, while Miller Strategies’ Jeff Miller, a longtime GOP strategist and fundraiser, and Jessica Mandel, a former in-house lobbyist for Credit Suisse, will lobby on issues surrounding crypto regulation, according to a disclosure.

— The lobbying hires are part of a broader ramping up of the exchange’s Washington, D.C., presence. In an email, spokesperson Matt David said that he was the first hire for Crypto.com’s government affairs and comms divisions, but expected the teams to have upwards of 40 staffers around the globe by the end of the year. Luther Strange, the former Alabama attorney general and senator, and Patrick Lynch, the former Rhode Island attorney general, are also acting as outside advisers, the company said, along with former CFTC commissioner Brian Quintenz.

ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ NABS ‘CRYPTO CZAR’: Meanwhile, Andreessen Horowitz has hired away the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s top crypto expert, Michele Korver, to head up regulatory affairs for its crypto unit. Korver “was tapped as FinCEN’s first-ever digital currency adviser last year,” POLITICO’s Sam Sutton notes, and “is the latest in a series of high-profile hires made by the firm — popularly known as a16z — amid its push to shape policy around crypto and digital asset markets in Washington.”

— “It’s clear to me that web3 and its underlying crypto technology can solve critical challenges of national importance,” Korver wrote in a series of tweets. “I’m now excited to join @a16z crypto and work directly with web3 projects to help them thrive in a rapidly developing regulatory environment. a16z crypto was an early supporter of crypto and web3, and I’ve long admired their team and the visionary entrepreneurs they’ve backed.”

— In a blog post announcing Korver’s hiring, a16z Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer Anthony Albanese framed the firm’s latest addition in the context of President Joe Biden’s recent executive order calling for a multi-agency evaluation of federal crypto policy. “It is hard to imagine someone better positioned to navigate and help shape the rapidly evolving web3 regulatory landscape” than Korver, he wrote.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Send the latest K Street tea: [email protected]. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

MORE NEW BUSINESS: Oracle has added a pair of Democratic lobbying firms to its already-lengthy roster of outside help, according to recent disclosure filings. The software company brought on Resolution Public Affairs, which was founded by former Chuck Schumer aide Heather McHugh, and Avenue Solutions, which is run by former Ted Kennedy aide Tracy Spicer, within days of each other in January, the disclosures show. Resolution will lobby for Oracle on cloud computing issues, while Avenue will lobby on health care issues. The new contracts bring Oracle’s team of hired firms close to two dozen.

— Boeing has brought on its first new lobbying firm under the aerospace giant’s new head of government relations. The company added a team of lobbyists from Crossroads Strategies that includes former Sen. John Breaux, founder Stewart Hall and former Airbus lobbyist Sam Adcock, to lobby on a range of issues including defense, intelligence, homeland security and NASA authorizations and appropriations.

MEHLMAN’S LATEST: The newest slide deck from Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas’ Bruce Mehlman is Russia-focused, of course, and games out the immediate to long-term consequences of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war with Ukraine. But one of the overriding consequences is just how many unknowns remain, Mehlman argues. That includes the question of how far Moscow will go, as Putin continuously faces “massive escalation risks” with “few clear off-ramps,” how potent sanctions will actually be, by how much food insecurity will worsen and the extent of the humanitarian crisis.

— In the long term, Mehlman previews a new world order in which Putin is a permanent pariah, Beijing will rush to sanction proof itself, and new technologies and methods of deploying them will transform “battlefields.”

CRYPTO GROUPS COORDINATE STATE EFFORTS: “The crypto and blockchain industries are organizing to accelerate their influence game across state legislatures,” per POLITICO’s Susannah Luthi. “Blockchain groups from 32 states have banded together to coordinate their playbook for state policy efforts as well as their talking points for Democrats and Republicans on policy issues like taxes and energy. They are also compiling model legislation that different associations can adapt for their own states.”

— “As blockchain technologies and businesses race far ahead of law and regulation, the industry has grown acutely aware that an ever-growing number of complicated issues are falling into a policy vacuum — leaving questions about banking, taxes, financial protection and more unanswered.”

— “‘I’ve been in crypto since 2016, and had been looking to federal organizations, like the Digital Chamber of Commerce and Blockchain Association, to do more leadership on the state level,’ said Arry Yu, chair of Washington state’s Cascadia Blockchain Council, who helped launch the new Coalition of Multi-State Blockchain Associations. ‘But they don’t have the bandwidth and resources to help us. So I asked, “Could we get together and help ourselves?”’ … Businesses and investors want regulatory clarity much more quickly than the federal government can deliver it. Moreover, it’s often cheaper and easier to influence state policy, which typically sways how the federal government responds.”

LAWMAKERS PRESS META OVER CHINESE MEDIA ADS: “A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing Meta on its policy toward paid advertisements from Chinese state-sponsored media as the war in Ukraine continues and false Russian narratives proliferate, per a letter sent to CEO Mark Zuckerberg Tuesday” that was obtained by Axios’ Ashley Gold.

— “The letter comes after Axios reported last week that state-controlled China Global TV Network had placed at least 21 ads on Meta-owned Facebook, many featuring newscasts pushing pro-Russia talking points about the ongoing attacks on Ukraine. The letter also citesChinese outlets spreading false reports on Facebook that Russia is targeting U.S. biolabs in Ukraine.

— “The group of six House lawmakers, including Young Kim (R-Calif.), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Ed Case (D-HI), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), acknowledged that Meta had taken steps to block Russian state media and affiliated outlets from monetizing content on the platform, but said the company hasn’t gone far enough. ‘Facebook has not focused on Chinese state broadcasters and affiliated accounts from buying ads and targeting global users with pro-Russian narratives on the Ukraine invasion,’ the lawmakers write.”

— They asked Meta to describe what steps the platform is taking to stem the spread of Russian disinformation by non-Russian accounts; to say whether the company will expand its U.S. ban on state-owned media ad buys; and to provide details on Chinese state media’s ad buys about the war by the end of the month.

Jobs Report

— Jonathan Martinez is now director of federal government affairs at GSK, Playbook reports. He previously was legislative director for Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.).

— Bennett Resnik and John Richter are joining Venn Strategies. Resnik will be a senior vice president in the firm’s infrastructure practice and previously was counsel and director of government relations at Cardinal Infrastructure. Richter will be an assistant vice president in the health practice and previously was an advocacy and engagement specialist with the American Nurses Association.

— Bernardine Bruggen is now a senior director at Evolve Media. She most recently was an account manager at POLITICO.

— Ethan Glass has joined Cooley LLP as a partner in the firm’s global litigation department. He was most recently chair of the antitrust investigations and government enforcement practice at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, and previously led investigation, litigation and trial teams as an assistant chief at DOJ.

— Greg Beck was elected chairman of the National Grain and Feed Association for the coming year, Morning Ag reports. Beck is senior vice president of the grain division at CGB Enterprises.

— Ramya Prabhakar has joined USAID Administrator Samantha Power’s speechwriting team, per Playbook. She previously was at West Wing Writers and is a member of Speechwriters of Color.

— Rachel Meyer is now deputy chief of staff for Project ECHO, Playbook reports. She previously was senior director of policy and government affairs at the American Society of Nephrology.

— Erica Teasley Linnick is joining NEO Philanthropy to lead the State Infrastructure Fund, Playbook reports. She most recently was senior program officer and then acting director of democracy at Open Society Foundations.

— Reggie Paros is now chief program officer at Millennial Action Project, per Playbook He previously was director of government relations at Oceans Conservancy.

New Joint Fundraisers

Mario Fratto Victory Fund (MARIO PAC, Mario Fratto for Congress)
Wagner McHenry Victory (Reps. Ann Wagner, Patrick McHenry, Ann PAC, Innovation Political Action Committee)

New PACs

Advocate for USA (Super PAC)
American Association of Independent Music, Inc. Political Action Committee (Independent Music PAC) (PAC)
American Values Coalition Federal Action (Hybrid PAC)
Committee to Re-Elect Kamala 2024 (Super PAC)
democracyFirst PAC (Hybrid PAC)
FROGMAN PAC (Leadership PAC: Derrick Van Orden)
Leadership Now (Super PAC)
MARIO PAC (Leadership PAC: Mario Fratto)
PACanalytics805 (PAC)
POWER PA PAC (Super PAC)
She Flies With Her Own Wings PAC (Super PAC)
Student Guardian PAC (Super PAC)
United Alliance of America (Hybrid PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Avenue Solutions: Oracle Corporation
Blue Star Strategies LLC: Foris Dax, Inc. D/B/A Crypto.Com
Boundary Stone Partners: The Coalition For Reimagined Mobility, A Project Of Safe
Clyburn Consulting, LLC: Emed
Confluence Government Relations: Linde, Inc.
Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies: Amazon Web Services
Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies: Geosure Global, LLC
Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies: Reading International, Inc.
Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies: Si Group Client Services
Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies: Undertone, A Perion Company
Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Association Of Private Non-Profit Institutions
Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Opiant Pharmaceuticals
Crossroads Strategies, LLC: The Boeing Company
David Rudd & Associates LLC: Raft Technologies
Horizons Global Solutions LLC: Wsr Insurance Services
Innovative Advocacy: Superior Handforge
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP: Ancestry
K&L Gates, LLP: Foris Dax, Inc. D/B/A Crypto.Com
Lsn Partners, LLC: Meprism
Miller Strategies, LLC: Foris Dax, Inc. D/B/A Crypto.Com
Sherman Strategic Affairs, LLC: Port Of South Louisiana
The Color Nine Group, LLC: New Horizons For Children
The Cormac Group, LLC: Americas Alliance For Liberty & Prosperity
The Madison Group: Desert Inet
The Williams Group: Pmi Global Services Inc.
Tiber Creek Group: Bank Of America Corporation
Venn Strategies: Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc.

New Lobbying Terminations

Judy Lemons: Fishing Partnership Health Plan
Lxr Group: North American Securities Administrators Association
Ms. Barbara Burchett: Superior Handforge
The Ross Law Firm, LLC: Jc Newman Cigar Company
Tiber Creek Group: H.C. Starck Inc.

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