Bitcoin Foundation Retains Thorsen French Advocacy as Outside Lobbying Firm
The Bitcoin Foundation has retained Thorsen French Advocacy, a consulting firm specializing in representation of clients on Capitol Hill, as outside lobbyists.
Alec French and Carl Thorsen will introduce Bitcoin and the Bitcoin Foundation to key lawmakers and staff, explaining the benefits that Bitcoin offers for global financial inclusion, consumer privacy, monetary stability and human liberty. Alec French formerly served as Democratic House Judiciary Committee counsel and has a deep background in technology policy issues. Carl Thorsen was general counsel to the House majority leader and a Justice Department official during the Bush Administration.
“When governments are properly informed about Bitcoin’s promise, the technology’s social and economic benefits are recognized and its rapid innovation and adoption will increase,” said Jon Matonis, Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation.
Thorsen and French will work under the strategic direction of Jim Harper, the Bitcoin Foundation’s Global Policy Counsel. Harper adds,
“The lawmakers and regulators who have studied Bitcoin take the sensible position that government should seek its benefits and mitigate its risks. We’re carrying this message to Capitol Hill so the Bitcoin community can focus on building tools and services that enrich and improve people’s lives around the world.”
Since its founding in September, 2012, the Bitcoin Foundation has educated regulators and lawmakers about Bitcoin in both private meetings and in public comments and testimonies. During that time, a variety of government pronouncements and hearings have established Bitcoin as a significant and well-recognized financial technology innovation.
With Bitcoin's legitimacy firmly established, Thorsen French will continue to expand awareness and recognition of the Bitcoin community, the Bitcoin protocol, and its benefits. This will discourage uninformed negative treatment of Bitcoin and lay the groundwork for law and policy changes that both maintain Bitcoin’s independence and permit Bitcoin’s fuller integration into mainstream financial services systems.
The Bitcoin Foundation
The Bitcoin Foundation is a member-driven non-profit organization dedicated to serving the technology, public policy and educational needs of the Bitcoin community. The Foundation works to promote, protect and standardize the Bitcoin protocol and software, broaden the use of Bitcoin through public education, foster a safe and sane legal and regulatory environment, and support local Bitcoin efforts by connecting a network of Bitcoin communities worldwide. Think Globally, Act Locally. Join us!
The Bitcoin Foundation: http://bitcoinfoundation.org/
Related News
In a recent press release, the Bitcoin Foundation announced that they have retained Thorsen French Advocacy as an outside lobbying firm to represent the Bitcoin Foundation's interests in Washington. Thorsen French Advocacy is run by Alec French and Carl Thorsen, long time professional acquaintances of Jim Harper, the Bitcoin Foundation's Global Policy Counsel. French is a former counsel for the Democratic House Judiciary Committee, and Thorsen was general counsel to a Justice Department official and the House majority leader during the second Bush Administration. The Bitcoin Foundation....
The Bitcoin Foundation has stepped up its US lobbying efforts by hiring Washington, DC-based firm Thorsen French Advocacy. The announcement from the Foundation represents perhaps the most high-profile bitcoin lobbying effort to date. In May, Falcon Global Capital hired a lobbying firm to work with Congress, joining Peck Madigan Jones and other companies who are pushing legislators on the topic of digital currency. Thorsen French Advocacy, founded in 2010, is led by Alec French and Carl Thorsen. The two long-time legislative officials have served in various legal capacities within the US....
The Bitcoin Foundation just might be looking to up their game when it comes to their doings in the nation's capital. A report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that the Foundation has hired a lobbying firm to serve as their political muscle power on Capitol Hill. The firm, Thorsen French Advocacy, is led by two former bipartisan congressional staffers, according to WSJ. Their responsibilities are clear enough: give bitcoin a good name. Global Policy Counsel at the Foundation, Jim Harper, says the firm will build "a reservoir of goodwill that we can deploy when we need to avert a....
The Bitcoin Foundation has been ramping up its lobbying efforts in the US since July, most notably with the hiring of Washington, DC-based firm Thorsen French Advocacy. Now, the organisation is making a similar push to promote the digital currency in Europe. The foundation announced today that it has retained regulatory expert Monica Monaco to directly promote the digital currency with political leaders and policymakers in the European Union (EU). This is the first time the an external expert has been directly hired in this way in the EU, where the foundation normally relies on the....
Mt. Gox fell hard, the prices fluctuate, the graphs are sinusoidal, bankruptcy and getting hacked has become a routine. This has been the life of a bitcoin in the last two years. Every time there is something new and powerful, two groups eventually emerge. The Supporters. The Skeptics. Both these groups work against each other and help make things better, together. Bitcoin Foundation. The Support & Advocacy Group in the case of Bitcoins is the Bitcoin Foundation, founded in 2012. The skeptics are everyone who doesn't use Bitcoins yet. Patrick Murck, served as the General Counsel of the....