Kristin Smith, the CEO of one of the biggest advocacy groups in Washington, is leaving for the newly created Solana Policy Institute.
Smith will leave The Blockchain Association and take on the role of president at the institute starting on May 19, according to a statement released by the association on Tuesday. The Blockchain Association has over 100 members, including Coinbase, Jito Labs and a16zcrypto.
"It has been an honor to serve as CEO of Blockchain Association and work alongside such a dedicated team and community,” Smith said in the statement. "I am incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished together and confident that the organization’s future is bright."
The Solana Policy Institute, a non-partisan nonprofit, premiered to the world on Monday as digital assets are having a moment with lawmakers quickly working to pass legislation touching on everything from stablecoins to market structure. The institute is led by Miller Whitehouse-Levine, the former CEO of the DeFi Education Fund.
"We've got a lot of work to do on that front, to educate people in Washington and policy making circles about crypto because right now, people hear crypto and by and large think of Bitcoin and that's it," he said in an interview with The Block on Monday. "But of course, the ecosystem has exploded well beyond Bitcoin, and there's applications for all sorts of things being built on these decentralized networks."
The institute's debut comes ahead of the House Financial Services Committee's hearing to amend and vote on a bill to regulate stablecoins, which will then be worked on with the Senate's version. President Donald Trump said he hoped to have stablecoin legislation on his desk by August. Lawmakers have also set their sights on market structure legislation, though that is likely to take some time.
Whitehouse-Levine declined to comment on who specifically is funding the group, but said it has a "base of support of folks broadly interested in the Solana ecosystem."
Smith will leave The Blockchain Association on May 16. The group's board of directors has begun its search for Smith's successor, according to the statement.
"During her tenure, the Association successfully championed policies that support the development of blockchain technology, defended the industry against misguided regulations, and built a robust community of innovators committed to shaping the future of the industry," the association said.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
