The Solana Policy Institute, a newly established lobbying group focused on advocating for the Solana ecosystem in Washington, has hired D.C. lobbyist Colin McLaren to be its engagement director. In this role McLaren will lead the group’s efforts to develop relationships in Washington with top lawmakers and regulators.
McLaren was previously the engagement director for the “dark money” group Cedar Innovation Foundation.
“Colin is able to thread the technicalities of blockchain with the stories of real-world impact — a unique skill that is only growing in importance as regulatory clarity enables increased innovation in the crypto industry,” said Solana Policy Institute CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine. “Elevating case studies from the Solana ecosystem will be fundamental in our outreach to policymakers moving forward.”
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Cedar Innovation Foundation, like the Solana Policy Institute, is a 501(c)4 organization, which means that it does not need to disclose its donors and can receive unlimited donations from corporations, individuals, or unions. However, CNBC reported that Coinbase was a major donor to the Cedar Innovation Fund. A source familiar with the Cedar Innovation Foundation said that it also received funding from Ripple Labs.
The group has been active in national politics over the past year via its aggressive attack ad campaigns. Cedar Innovation Foundation ran ads against former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown in the leadup to the November election, for example, in addition to the industry ad campaign encouraging Senators to vote “no” on the renomination of Democratic SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw. McLaren played a key role designing these campaigns and conveying the reasons behind them to lawmakers in Washington.
McLaren is also the founding board member of the American Innovation Foundation, a nonprofit advocating for the influence of tech experts in policy making. Prior to working at the Cedar Innovation Foundation, McLaren was a Democratic political operative, working on the Bloomberg 2020, Biden 2020, and Harris 2024 presidential campaigns.
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The announcement comes one week after the Solana Policy Institute announced that it was also hiring Kristin Smith, formerly CEO of crypto industry policy organization the Blockchain Association, as president. Together with Whitehouse-Levine, who previously was chief executive at the legal research group DeFi Education Fund, the Solana Policy Institute is aiming to be a major player in Washington as the crypto industry seeks to capitalize on its November wins and individual blockchains fight to be lawmakers’ top priority.
