Casey Wagner

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is launching a nonprofit organization to advance pro-crypto policy around the world.&nbsp;



The Stand With Crypto Alliance will prioritize supporting and advancing legislation in the US that promotes access and innovation within the industry. The Alliance is a 501(c)(4) organization under the Internal Revenue Service, meaning it is an exempt social welfare group. 



The current discussion around crypto policy is in Washington DC between centralized players and other big groups, Kara Calvert, Coinbase’s head of US policy, said Monday during a Twitter Spaces event. But the Stand With Crypto Alliance hopes to bring new voices into the picture. 



“[The Alliance] completely embodies exactly what the crypto industry is all about,” Calvert said. “It&#8217;s all about decentralized efforts, decentralized power, decentralized access, and that&#8217;s I think really what this Stand With Crypto movement is about.”&nbsp;



The announcement that a nonprofit organization will be created comes <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/new-york-mining-moratorium-coinbase">shortly after the exchange hosted its inaugural “stand with crypto” town hall</a> in New York City. The event featured a panel discussion with local-level and federal lawmakers and advisors from New York, an effort Coinbase said would help advance conversations between the industry and government.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“This is a grassroots, organic bottom-up effort, and we&#8217;re really excited that we can spin this out into its own organization,” Calvert said. “It can provide a lot of tools to people, they can learn about the members of Congress, they can access a scorecard, they can access a legislative action portal…it will really give them the tools that they need to engage with their members of Congress.” 



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/coinbase">Coinbase</a> is one exchange of several currently facing charges from the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/sec">Securities and Exchange Commission</a> over alleged broker and clearing violations. Last week several groups and individuals, including US Senator Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo, and top US law scholars from institutions including Yale and UCLA weighed in via an outpouring of amicus briefs filed with the court. 



“Grateful for the support from so many outstanding groups and individuals who understand that the rule of law, fair process and our national security are at stake,” Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad wrote in a <a href="https://twitter.com/faryarshirzad/status/1690231902803042304?s=20">tweet</a> last week in response to the briefs. 



Those looking to join the Stand With Crypto Alliance can sign up now through Coinbase. Advocates are encouraged to contact legislators and donate to the cause.



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Coinbase

Coinbase launches nonprofit to advance crypto legislation

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_61f7ed2931b78" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>“Meta joining COPA means crypto is not a niche,” Max Sills, general manager at COPA, told Blockworks. “It’s a technology that will be depended on by every industry&#8221;</li>
 <li>The non-profit community was founded by Block, formerly Square, Inc. and consists of over 30 members, including MicroStrategy, Kraken, Uniswap, Chaincode Labs and OKCoin</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>





Meta, formerly known as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/zuckerberg-says-facebooks-new-name-will-be-meta/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Facebook</a>, has joined a nonprofit community focused on making digital assets open-source in big tech’s latest move into the crypto ecosystem. 



The social media platform joined the board of the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), which is working to assemble a pool of crypto patents that all members can use in an effort to encourage innovation.&nbsp;



“Meta joining COPA means crypto is not a niche,” Max Sills, general manager at COPA and counsel at Square, told Blockworks. “It’s a technology that will be depended on by every industry.”



Through COPA, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-parent-meta-reverses-crypto-ad-ban/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meta</a> pledged to not enforce its core cryptocurrency patents against any individual or company, except for “defensive reasons.” This effectively makes its patents freely available for all to use. 



Some of those patents include Meta’s technology that enables the creation, mining, storage, transmission, settlement, integrity or security of cryptocurrencies, Sills said. 



The non-profit community was founded by <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorseys-square-to-change-its-name-to-block/">Block</a>, formerly Square, Inc., and consists of over 30 members, including <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/microstrategy-buys-1900-more-bitcoins/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MicroStrategy</a>, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/kraken-acquires-staking-platform-staked/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kraken</a>, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=uniswap#:~:text=Uniswap%20Delegates%20Consider%20Liquidity%20Mining%20to%20Kickstart%20Ethereum%20Layer%2D2%20Adoption" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Uniswap</a>, Chaincode Labs and OKCoin.



Meta representative Shayne O’Reilly, who manages the company’s licensing and transaction group, will join board members from Block and Coinbase. It’s not known who the representative for both companies is.&nbsp;



Overtime, the board will be governed by a board of nine members: three members from crypto companies and six members from other companies.



COPA is a cross-industry effort with a mission of uniting large technology companies like Meta, with financial services organizations, government agencies, crypto-native companies and others to protect crypto innovation.



“Crypto technologies are a public commons that eventually everyone in the world will depend on for transacting value,” Sills said. “Protecting that commons is paramount to its development.”&nbsp;



Here’s how it works: members pool their crypto patents together to form what the organization calls a “shared patent library.” Any member is then free to use the technology behind a patent.&nbsp;



Over the next 12 months, COPA will continue to outreach to big tech, banks and payments companies, Sills said.



“COPA’s goals over time are to double down on minimizing [intellectual property] risk in cryptocurrency, and create more patent protection for our members,” Sills said. 



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