Bitcoin companies are hiring lobbyists, visiting lawmakers on Capitol Hill and writing to agencies about how they should write rules that will determine the future of the fast-growing virtual currency.
It’s all part of a push to shape how Washington ultimately regulates the independent, digital money that is growing in popularity.
“The most important thing we’re doing is explaining how Bitcoin works,” said Jim Harper, a lobbyist who was hired recently as counsel for the Bitcoin Foundation, an organization that represents Bitcoin companies and investors. Harper, who has lobbied for PayPal and VeriSign, is paid in bitcoin.