Capitol Hill War Stories from a DC Lobbyist Who’s Seen It All (SBF, Gensler, Elizabeth Warren)

Crypto policy in Washington has gone from punchline to power center. David sits down with Ron Hammond, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Wintermute, for a rare inside look at how crypto actually moves through DC: the SBF era, Elizabeth Warren’s anti-crypto army, Gary Gensler’s SEC, bank lobby pressure, Trump’s crypto conflicts, the Clarity Act fight, and why privacy and self-custody may be the next major battleground. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 🧭OKX | TRADE, EARN, PAY to OKX | 120M+ USERS WORLDWIDE https://app.okx.com/join/USBANKLESS 🦊 METAMASK | DOWNLOAD NOW https://go.metamask.io/BL-Pod-Download 🌐BRIX | EMERGING MARKET YIELD https://bankless.cc/brix 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Becoming “Captain Crypto” in DC 4:03 From Joke to Serious Political Force 6:19 Why Crypto Punches Above Its Weight 10:28 How SBF Captured Washington 13:26 The FTX Fallout in Capitol Hill 16:25 Elizabeth Warren and Crypto’s Proxy Wars 19:04 How DC Letters Actually Get Written 25:33 How Powerful Is the Crypto Lobby? 27:28 Who Is Playing on Crypto’s Side? 31:01 Democrats, Gensler, and the 2024 Lesson 35:07 The Gensler Era and Prometheum 41:21 Will Warren Ever Pivot? 43:20 Trump, the Crypto Ball, and World Liberty 49:30 Will the Clarity Act Pass? 53:30 Privacy, Self-Custody, and the Next Front 56:23 The Social Side of Crypto in DC --- RESOURCES Ron Hammond https://x.com/RonwHammond --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures