Zcash gets a Washington lobbyist to push crypto policy

Pretty Good Policy for Zcash (PGPZ) has filed a lobbying registration in Washington, D.C., marking a step up in organized policy engagement by the Zcash ecosystem. The filing, effective Oct. 1, names executive director Divij Pandya as the group’s sole registered lobbyist and identifies the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and two digital-asset tax proposals among the issues it intends to pursue. PGPZ grew out of an earlier initiative called Pretty Good Policy for Crypto, which was started in 2022 by Electric Coin Co. That earlier effort held policy roundtables in Washington and organized a congressional briefing on encryption technologies in 2023, providing a foundation for the more focused Zcash advocacy effort. Paul Brigner, who founded PGPZ and serves as chief policy and regulatory officer of ZODL, said the group’s purpose is to ensure Zcash is represented in policy discussions so that privacy-preserving digital cash can continue to be lawfully used and serve the public interest. The registration formalizes the group’s intention to engage lawmakers and regulators on legislation that could affect how privacy features are treated. Funding for the initiative has already been committed: in August the Zcash Community Grants approved a $750,000 grant to cover PGPZ’s first year of operations. The registration and funding together indicate a concerted effort by the Zcash community to have an organized presence in forthcoming U.S. digital-asset policy debates.