<p>FTX US, the US affiliate of the crypto exchange at the center of a major scuffle over US regulation, has registered its first in-house lobbyist to work on Congressional relations.</p> <p>The <a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/d9821ac5-0812-4dbe-907c-58d0b6ab3aab/print/">registration</a> was effective as of the beginning of the month and is for Eliora Katz, according to a June 10 filing. Katz joined FTX US in April from a position as a legislative aide for Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), the leading Republican on the Senate Banking Committee. </p> <p>A representative for FTX US confirmed the registration and denied that the firm had plans to expand its lobbying activities into new areas.</p> <p>FTX US has previously contracted firms T Cap Solutions and Rich Feuer Anderson as outside lobbyists, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2021 and alongside major new <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/132063/ftx-us-binanceus-and-gemini-jumped-into-us-lobbying-in-recent-months-yet-they-trail-coinbases-1-million-quarterly-spend">lobbying spending from several crypto exchanges</a>. The firm terminated the T Cap Solutions contract in February.</p> <p>The new registration does not yet give a dollar amount for the in-house lobbying program, but FTX US reported $100,000 in the first quarter of this year between those two contracts. The Lobbying Disclosure Act requires reporting on a fairly limited set of activities, so $100,000 is significantly less than the firm's total spending on government relations and policy. </p> <p>That contract with T Cap centered on Charlie Thornton, a former staffer for the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. FTX's global CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried has <a href="https://www.theblock.co/linked/133092/cftc-chair-to-testify-at-latest-senate-hearing-on-digital-assets">appeared before the Senate Ag Committee</a> promoting the CFTC as the appropriate regulator for cryptocurrency exchanges, as opposed to the Securities and Exchange Commission.</p> <p>The argument is resonating <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/152033/congress-preps-hearing-on-future-of-digital-assets-regulation-for-later-this-month">throughout the Senate and House Ag Committees</a>, which oversee the CFTC. The House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee, which oversee the SEC, appear more reticent. </p> <p>In November, the <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/123003/ftx-us-hires-gensler-era-cftc-commissioner-to-spearhead-lobbying">firm hired Mark Wetjen</a>, a former CFTC commissioner, to lead its government affairs team. Subsequently, FTX and Bankman-Fried have sought approval for a <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/148786/cftc-roundtable-on-ftx-proposal-highlights-barriers-in-clearing-of-digital-vs-physical-assets">proposal for disintermediated derivatives trading</a> through the CFTC. </p>