Crypto industry gave $8 million to Clarity Act lobbyists who didn't close the deal

In the first half of 2026, the sector's paid advocates swarmed Capitol Hill as the U.S. Senate worked on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. About half of those registered lobbyists work as direct crypto firm employees and the rest came from outside shops or the industry's trade associations. That expensive army has so far failed to accomplish its mission .

In a CoinDesk analysis of federal lobbyist disclosures, the industry spent more than $13 million on lobbying in that six-month period. Most of that — $8 million — was linked to the market structure legislation in Congress, though the filings don't detail how much attention was also paid to other issues that might have been pursued alongside it.