Paradigm assembling new policy lab at ‘critical’ time for crypto regulation

Crypto investment firm Paradigm is launching a new public policy arm aimed at advancing innovation-friendly lawmaking and policymaking in the US. 

Led by Paradigm special counsel Rodrigo Seira and policy manager Brendan Malone, the Policy Lab will provide research to “guide critical policy decisions,” Seira said.  

The initiative kicks off with two inaugural academic fellows, Primavera De Filippi from Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center and Agostino Capponi from Columbia University. 

The two will focus on “regulatory equivalence, which is the comparability of legally-bounded and technologically-bounded systems and how the same policy outcomes can be achieved through regulation or through technological architecture,” Seira said. 

Pat Toomey, a former Republican senator who served until 2023, and Steve Israel, a congressional Democrat from New York who retired in 2017, are also part of the policy arm’s founding team. 

“This is a fast-moving, technical space and it’s important that policymakers have access to rigorous research and analysis to inform their policy efforts,” Toomey said. “I encourage members of Congress and their staffs to take full advantage of these resources to improve their understanding of new technology and examine the theoretical basis for financial services laws.”  

Paradigm’s policy push comes as the crypto firm continues to grow its presence in the US regulatory space. 

In July, the firm filed an amicus brief in support of Bittrex in their legal battle with the SEC, arguing that the agency is making an “unsupported attempt to expand its jurisdiction over crypto secondary markets.”

That same month, Paradigm added a government affairs lead, Alex Grieve, to its team. Grieve is a Capitol Hill alum and previously helped build the crypto practice at regulatory advisory firm Tiger Hill Partners. 

“We are at a critical point in the national discourse over crypto policy,” Seira said. “Everyone paying attention realizes the status quo is unsustainable; the lack of clarity is unnecessary, and it is pushing innovation offshore while leaving American consumers at risk. We need sound, technical research to provide insight for a much needed regulatory overhaul.”

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