Facing an aggressive SEC, Coinbase rejected traditional lobbying and instead launched a two-front war: a grassroots campaign mobilizing its 52 million users and a top-down Super PAC with industry allies. This effective playbook is now being copied by AI and other tech sectors.

OpenAI's president helped fund a super PAC that lobbied heavily against New York's RAISE Act. However, after the bill was amended to be less stringent, OpenAI's global affairs chief publicly lauded the outcome. This reveals a sophisticated, two-pronged lobbying strategy: aggressively oppose initial drafts, then publicly support the final, more favorable version.

Contrary to belief, the crypto industry's primary need is not deregulation but clear, predictable rules. The ambiguous "regulation through enforcement" approach, where rules are defined via prosecution, creates uncertainty that drives innovation and capital offshore.

For a controversial strategic shift, a co-founder's "moral authority" is invaluable. They can absorb the risk of looking foolish and give up their responsibilities ("Legos") to spearhead a new initiative. This allows them to champion a new direction with a level of credibility that can overcome internal skepticism.

When facing government pressure for deals that border on state capitalism, a single CEO gains little by taking a principled stand. Resisting alone will likely lead to their company being punished while competitors comply. The pragmatic move is to play along to ensure long-term survival, despite potential negative effects for the broader economy.

While the early crypto market was dominated by cypherpunks advocating for anonymity, Coinbase took the opposite approach. They worked with banks and implemented KYC, betting that mainstream adoption required a compliant, trusted platform, even though it alienated the initial user base.

Maja Vujinovic posits that Gary Gensler, despite his pro-crypto past, was strategically positioned by banks to slow innovation. This regulatory friction gave traditional financial institutions the necessary time to understand the technology and formulate their own digital asset strategies before competing.

By publicly supporting a California wealth tax that is unlikely to pass, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang positions himself as a 'good billionaire.' This is a canny strategy to generate goodwill and improve his brand without incurring any actual financial cost.

Parker Lewis argues the act's vague language, intended to cover all of crypto, creates regulatory hooks that could ensnare Bitcoin later. He highlights weak protections for developers and self-custody as major flaws, creating a future "dragnet."