Coinbase launches new crypto think tank to help shape policy

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has created a “crypto-native think tank” to help shape the global discussion on digital asset policies.

The newly formed Coinbase Institute will also publish research on crypto and Web3.

Coinbase has appointed its Director of Policy, Hermione Wong, to oversee the institute. She previously served in the Department of Economic and Risk Analysis at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and before that at the State Department.

The associated Coinbase Institute Advisory Board has also been formed and will include law and finance academics from top universities such as Harvard, MIT, Duke and John Hopkins in conjunction with an academic partnership with the University of Michigan.

The University of Michigan has conducted surveys for the US Census Bureau and Department of Defense, and will partner with Coinbase on an annual survey across the US to gauge cryptocurrency adoption and sentiment toward digital assets.

The institute released the first in a series of “Coinbase Primers” – reports detailing key issues in crypto. It published a “Crypto and the Climate” report on May 19 to justify the high energy consumption of proof-of-work blockchains like Bitcoin (BTC).

The first monthly crypto markets insight report was also released, comparing market movements in crypto and traditional finance. Each report focuses on a specific topic.

The establishment of the institute marks another example for Coinbase aiming to influence the cryptocurrency discussion. In May 2021, she launched a “fact-checking portal” with CEO Brian Armstrong, who said the blog is being used “to combat misinformation and mischaracterizations about Coinbase or crypto being shared in the world.”

Related: Global Financial Regulators to Discuss Crypto at G7: Report

The crypto exchange also set up a political action committee in February 2022 ahead of the November 8th US midterm elections. Coinbase spent over $1.3 million on lobbying in 2021, the largest spend by a blockchain company that year.

Coinbase broke away from the crypto industry’s largest lobby group, the Blockchain Association, in August 2020 in protest at the inclusion of Binance.US.

The company then co-founded the Crypto Council for Innovation with Jack Dorsey’s Square (now Block) and crypto investment firm Paradigm in April 2021 with the aim of engaging governments, regulators and policymakers in crypto regulation.

The institute hasn’t singled out any specific policies to champion, but its next step will be to release more original research that will “provide the public, policymakers, regulators, and academics with a better understanding of the diversity and interdependence of crypto with the broader economy.” will mediate. ”