Members of Congress and other federal agencies in Washington will soon be hearing from the first pro-Bitcoin lobbyist, Brett Stapper, who filed his paperwork this week to lobby on issues related to the digital currency.
Stapper is the co-founder of the world’s first investment fund that deals only with Bitcoin, Falcon Global Capital. According to the lobbying registration paperwork filed, Stapper will focus his lobbying efforts on “education and understanding of Bitcoin and other crypto-graphic based currencies,” and hopes to convert officials into Bitcoin supporters.
“Our objectives at this point are very simple. In our discussions and debates we have realized that those who oppose Bitcoin don’t really oppose it, they simply don’t understand it. Our main concern is that our elected officials will pass regulations without being fully educated on the topic which could have a negative impact on the Bitcoin ecosystem,” Stapper told Business Insider.
“Our goal is to educate these elected officials and to offer them guidance on how to accept Bitcoin contributions. If we can be successful with these efforts, we feel the Bitcoin ecosystem could be greatly impacted. We are making ourselves available to speak with any politician that wishes to understand Bitcoin and the acceptance of Bitcoin contributions.”
The first major news regarding Bitcoin related lobbying came last month when paperwork filed by the lobbying firm Peck Madigan Jones revealed that five staff members would be lobbying Bitcoin for their client, MasterCard.
MasterCard told The Hill that it was “gathering information in connection with recent congressional hearings to better understand the policy issues around virtual and anonymous currencies.”
BitPay CTO, Stephen Pair, recently told CNBC that the antiquated financial technology will eventually leave MasterCard and Visa with no choice but to adopt Bitcoin. Pair believes that financial giants would rather implement the Bitcoin technology rather than directly compete with it.
The Bitcoin Foundation announced in March their decision to hire Jim Harper of the libertarian Cato Institute, who will serve to “identify political impediments to bitcoin adoption, and build confidence in bitcoin among governments around the world,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
A discussion on the idea of hiring pro-Bitcoin lobbyists can be found on this Bitcoin Reddit thread.
