Crypto.com Expands U.S. Footprint with New D.C. Office
The Singapore-based exchange is playing the long game in Washington
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: Crypto.com is scaling up its U.S. operations, Robinhood Co-Founder and CEO Vlad Tenev joins the podcast to share the company’s crypto vision, and we break down the week’s biggest stories.
Crypto.com is expanding its U.S. presence with a new office in the heart of the nation’s capital, Crypto in America has learned.
The launch of the D.C. outpost— located close to the White House—comes as the Singapore-based exchange accelerates efforts to influence U.S. crypto policy through increased lobbying on Capitol Hill.
The expansion follows the October establishment of Crypto.com’s North America headquarters in Texas, and reflects a broader industry trend of global crypto companies either returning to or doubling down on operations in the U.S., with hopes that the Trump administration’s friendlier regulatory regime will kickstart growth and adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology.
Last month, the company deepened its Washington ties by partnering with President Trump’s media outfit, Trump Media, to launch a series of crypto-related exchange-traded products, expected to roll out later this year. Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek has cultivated a relationship with the crypto-friendly president and was among the founders who attended the White House Crypto Summit in March.
“The U.S. market is central to the growth strategy of Crypto.com and the most exciting opportunity for our entire industry,” said Matt David, President of North America and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Crypto.com. “With a maturing regulatory environment under the current Administration’s leadership, building out our presence and workforce in the nation’s capital will support our collective efforts in responsibly advancing our business and the sector.”
Adding to the optimism, the Republican-led SEC under Commissioners Mark Uyeda and Hester Peirce has reversed course on the Biden-era industry-wide crackdown on crypto, which saw the Securities and Exchange Commission issue a barrage of enforcement actions against major industry players—including an investigation into Crypto.com.
The investigation was formally closed in March and no charges were brought.
Robinhood CEO Sits Down with Crypto In America
For this week’s episode of Crypto in America, we sat down with Vlad Tenev, Co-Founder and CEO of Robinhood.
Tenev breaks down Robinhood’s strong Q1 earnings—driven by a surge in crypto trading—and shares his take on liquidity, market structure, and evolving policy dynamics. He also weighs in on the crypto M&A landscape, IPOs, the role of AI, and how Robinhood is building with tokenization in mind.
Watch this episode on all platforms here.
Midweek Recap
ICYMI. Here are some of the biggest stories so far this week:
New Hampshire has become the first U.S. state to pass a strategic Bitcoin reserve bill into law, authorizing the state treasurer to purchase the world’s largest digital asset either directly or through an ETP. The victory follows Arizona’s Governor vetoing a similar bill last week.
The Senate is still on track to hold a procedural vote on the GENIUS Act on Thursday despite recent roadblocks from Democrats. Republican Senate aides tell Crypto In America they’re cautiously optimistic that ongoing closed-door discussions between Democrat and Republican leaders can get them to where they need to be.
The House Financial Services and Agriculture Committees released a joint discussion draft of a market structure bill, building on the former FIT21 legislation from last Congress, that would create comprehensive rules of the road for digital assets. Notably, the bill in its current form would make the CFTC the dominant crypto regulator, instead of the SEC.
A bipartisan hearing to review the bill’s text and hear from industry experts was interrupted when Ranking Member Maxine Waters walked out, citing what she called President Trump’s “crypto corruption.” Waters pointed to the Trump family’s potential financial stake in several crypto ventures as a conflict of interest that the legislation could promote.
The Senate Banking Committee voted 13-11 to advance the nomination of Fed Governor Michelle Bowman to be the next vice chair for supervision. Her nomination will now go on to the full Senate. As vice chair, Bowman will oversee banks’ engagement with digital assets.
The SEC has announced details for its fourth industry roundtable on tokenization. The May 12 event will feature two separate panels with participants from BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Apollo Global, Securitize, Robinhood and others.
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