The Revolving Door Project’s attempt to track crypto’s all out assault on good governance.
Over the past decade, the cryptocurrency industry has emptied out its arsenal to enact a reckless policy agenda, threatening financial stability and Americans’ pocketbooks.
This has taken the shape of hundreds of millions in campaign donations, real threats to hurt legislators’ electoral prospects if they refuse to support the industry’s goals and the naked purchase of influence in Washington. Below is a list of the insiders the industry has tapped to do its bidding, and the crypto insiders who have revolved into government through the Trump White House.
These lists are invariably incomplete as crypto’s push for complete capture of our politics advances onwards.
Please send any tips you have of other names to be included to burke (at) therevolvingdoorproject.org.
Coinbase Advisory Council:
Perhaps no single institution has purchased as much influence as Coinbase’s “Global Advisory Council,” which has hired a bipartisan team to help advance the crypto giant’s goals.
- David Plouffe, Senior Advisor Harris Walz Campaign 2024, Campaign Manager Obama Biden Campaign 2008, Senior Advisor to the President 2011-2013
- Kysten Sinema, Former Senator (AZ)
- Mark Esper, Former Secretary of Defense (2019-2020)
- Stephanie Murphy, Former Representative D-FL
- Tim Ryan, Former Representative D-OH,
- Pat Toomey, Former Senator R-PA
- Antonio Villaraigosa, Former Mayor of Los Angeles and CA Governor hopeful. Villaraigosa was previously a Senior Advisor for multi-level marketing company Herbalife
- Chris LaCivita, Co-Campaign Manager, Trump Vance 2024 (LaCivita was also a principal leader of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in the 2004 presidential campaign).
- Sean Patrick Maloney (Formerly a member of the council), Former Representative D-NY and Chair of DCCC
Other Crypto Revolvers:
Coinbase’s Global Advisory Council is not the only source of crypto influence. Here’s a larger list of revolvers who’ve taken other jobs with the industry.
- Larry Summers, Former Treasury Secretary and Obama White House NEC Director: Digital Currency Group, A16Z, Xapo, among others
- Jim Messina, Deputy Chief of Staff in the Obama White House, Campaign Manager Obama Biden 2012: The Messina Group blockchain practice, Board of Directors for Blockchain.com
- David Plouffe (yes, him again), Senior Advisor Harris Walz Campaign 2024, Campaign Manager Obama Biden Campaign 2008, Senior Advisor to the President 2011-2013: Chair of Binance Global Advisory Board, advisory board of fintech/crypto firm Alchemy Pay.
- Patrick McHenry, former Chair of House Financial Services Committee and former temporary Speaker of the House: Senior Advisor Stripe, Senior Advisor a16z, Vice Chairman at Ondo Finance, Senior Advisor Equipifi, Senior Advisor Lazard, Advisory Board BGR Group
- Jen Brown, Banking Counsel to Senate Minority Leader Schumer: Paradigm, Policy Council, Vice President BGR Group
- Michele Korver, DOJ Digital Currency Advisor and Chief Digital Currency Advisor FinCEN: a16z crypto
- Summer Mersinger, CFTC Commissioner and former Chief of Staff to Senate Majority Leader John Thune: CEO Blockchain Association
- Justin Slaughter, Senior Advisor to SEC Chair, General Counsel to Senator Ed Markey: Paradigm
- Neal Katyal, Acting Solicitor General in the Obama administration: crypto issues at Milbank LLP
- Mark Wetjen, CFTC commissioner: former FTX US’ head of policy and regulatory strategy
- Jill Sommers, CFTC Commissioner: former Board of Directors for FTX US Derivatives
- Ryne Miller, former Counsel to CFTC Chair Gary Gensler: former General Counsel to FTX US; leads Lowenstein Sandler’s cryptocurrency practice
- Ryan Eagan, a 10 year veteran of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office: Lobbyist for the Crypto Council for Innovation
- Brian Brooks, Acting Comptroller of the Currency 2020-2021: Board of Directors, Microstrategy
- Dan Gallagher, Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2011-2015: Chief Legal, Compliance and Corporate Affairs Officer, Robinhood
- Max Baucus, Former Senator D-MT, Former Chair of the Senate Finance Committee: Policy Adviser and Government Liaison, Binance
- Juan Zarate, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes: Independent Advisor, Coinbase
- Faryar Shirzad, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs: Chief Policy Officer, Coinbase
- Anthony Albanese, interim Superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services: Managing Partner and the Chief Operating Officer, a16z crypto
- Raj Date, Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury: Board of Directors, Circle Internet Financial, founding director, Payments Leadership Council
- Chris Giancarlo, Commissioner Commodities Future Trading Commission: Board of Advisors, Chamber of Digital Commerce
- Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget 2017-2020, acting White House Chief of Staff 2019-2020, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 2017-2018, Congressman, 2011-2017: Board of Advisors, Chamber of Digital Commerce
- James Newsome, Chairman Commodities Future Trading Commission: Co-Chair of the Token Alliance, Board of Advisors, Chamber of Digital Commerce, Advisory Board, Bitfury, Chair of the Board, CipherMining, Board of Advisors, Bloq, Board of Directors, LedgerX
- Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division: Co-Founder and Director of the Blockchain Alliance
- Sheila Bair, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions, Chair of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: Board of Directors, Paxos
- Bill Bradley, US Senator: Board of Directors, Paxos
- Arthur Levitt, Chair of Securities and Exchange Commission: Advisory Board, Omniex
- Lucas Moskowitz, Counsel to Commissioner of Securities and Exchange Commission, Senior Investigative Counsel, Senate Banking Committee: General Counsel,Robinhood
- Alison Kutler, Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau and Special Advisor to the Chairman for Digital Opportunity, Federal Communications Commission: Senior Vice President, Global Government Affairs for Dapper Labs, Vice President, Sustainability & Responsible Gaming, FanDuel
- Eric Soufer, Director Of Communications And Senior Counsel For Policy, New York Attorney General: Leader, Crypto + FinTech Practice, Tusk Strategies
- Thaya Knight, Counsel to SEC Commissioner Elad Roisman and Counsel to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce: Senior Public Policy Manager at Coinbase
- Scott Bauguess, Deputy Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, Securities and Exchange Commission: VP, Global Regulatory Policy, Coinbase
- Michael Warren, Senior Advisor in the Obama White House Presidential Personnel Office, Executive Director of the Clinton National Economic Council: Board of Directors, Ripple
- James Freis, Director of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network: Special Advisor, MoonPay
- Sujit Raman, Associate Deputy Attorney General: Chief Legal Officer, TRM Labs
- Josh Wilsusen, Counsel to the House Financial Services Committee: Chief Policy Officer, Binance
- TuongVy Le, Senior Counsel, Division of Enforcement, Securities and Exchange Commission: Partner and Head of Regulatory & Policy, Bain Capital Crypto, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Anchorage Digital
- Kristina Littman, Chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, Securities and Exchange Commission: Partner, Co-Chair of the Securities Enforcement, and Willkie Digital Works Practice Groups
- Donald Verrilli, Solicitor General: Lawyer for Grayscale Investments
- Brett Quick, Staff Director to Senate Banking Committee’s National Security International Trade and Finance Subcommittee: Head of U.S. Policy and Government Affairs, The Crypto Council for Innovation
- Collin Mccune, Deputy Staff Director of the House Financial Services Committee: Head of Government Affairs, a16z
- Nate Parker, Associate Director of Legislative Affairs, White House: Lobbyist, Kraken
- Kirtan Mehta, Chief of Staff for Senator John Hickenlooper: Public Policy Counsel, Robinhood
Threat to future employment
There’s a pernicious underlying threat of the revolving door phenomenon: government officials who robustly enforce the law, which tends to code as hostility to big business, are likely to face hurdles finding private sector employment after their public service. While we support long, enriching public service careers, we recognize the impact this veiled threat has on civil servants’ career prospects.
In typical Silicon Valley fashion, the crypto industry has found this implication to be too subtle. So they’ve publicly come out and said it.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase Tweeted a threat to SEC employees in Dec. 2024:
“We’ve let all the law firms we work with know that if they hire anyone who committed these bad deeds [working for the Gensler-led SEC] in the (soon to be) prior administration, we will no longer be a client of theirs. […] for instance, Milbank recently messed up and hired Gurbir [the Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement] We don’t work with them now (and never will while he works there).”
This sentiment was echoed by other prominent figures in the cryptocurrency industry like Ripple’s top lawyer Stuart Alderoty, and the Winklevoss twins.
Revolving Into Government:
The revolving door doesn’t just pose a threat as civil servants seek employment outside of government, but also as business leaders take powerful roles in the executive branch. Here’s an (incomplete) list of Trump appointees with the most glaring crypto conflicts of interest.
- Howard Lutnick, Commerce Secretary, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald is basically the bank for the world’s largest stablecoin, Tether. He also has said he has “hundreds of millions of dollars in exposure to bitcoin”
- SEC Chair Paul Atkins owns up to $6 million in crypto assets and was co-chair of the Token Alliance, a crypto lobbying group
- CFTC Chair Nom. Brian Quintenz was Marc Andreessen’s crypto “government affairs” guy, a quasi-lobbyist position
- Venture capitalist David Sacks reportedly had over $200 million in crypto holdings prior to his appointment as AI Czar.
- DOGE chief Elon Musk, who named the cost-cutting initiative after the DOGE coin he has repeatedly hawked, had also previously sought to add on crypto investing as one of Tesla core’s functions with the purchase of $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin.