The Forward Party’s founder has a new project called Lobby3, and he isn’t frightened for people to use it.
Andrew Yang, a former presidential contender and mayor of New York City, is on a barnstorming tour through… Denver.
Yang, a long-time supporter of technological innovation, attended the ETHDenver conference and hackathon to present his current initiative, Lobby3 DAO. Yang pushed the crowd, many of whom had only lately become aware of cryptocurrency, to become politically involved. He responded, “We need you to lean in and assist lead.”
Lobby3, which just started this week, is his favoured method of doing so. Yang, together with campaign employees and others, co-founded the initiative, which touts itself as a “Web3 community meant to offer the people a stronger voice in Washington, D.C.” DAO tokens purchased with Ethereum can be used to interact with policymakers collectively on problems ranging from financial inclusion to decentralised finance to poverty reduction. It’s essentially a lobbying group for Web3 consumers, not necessarily the crypto sector.
While Yang is collaborating with the Blockchain Association and other trade groups, he feels that the people hold the real power: “If you think this is some problem that some industry heavyweight can easily address, that’s not the challenge we’re confronting right now.”
He painted a picture of a Congress wary of hearing from Goliaths like Coinbase, which it believes has a vested interest in keeping things the way they are. Simultaneously, he sees an opportunity to break through with ordinary politicians. “Imagine absolute bewilderment,” he continued.
Other politicians, like Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Sunayna Tuteja, the Federal Reserve’s senior innovation officer, have visited ETHDenver this week to discuss what actions governments are taking to welcome crypto innovation. Yang, on the other hand, is impatient and agitated for more to be done.
“The world is going to shit,” he predicted. He maintains his hope, however, noting that “things can change very quickly, both positively and negatively.”
He has a rallying call for Web3 and crypto to get there: “Let’s make it such that people can feel the advantage of these technologies in the real fucking world as soon as feasible.”
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
