Bitcoin-related businesses raised more venture capital money in 2015 than in any year before: $485 million, according to industry news site CoinDesk. And yet, even as they court more VC interest, these companies continue to deal with skepticism from the general public and from top executives of big financial institutions, like Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan (JPM).
So they're turning to a non-profit advocacy group for help.
Coin Center, a 501(c)(4) lobbying group founded in 2014, calls itself the "leading non-profit research and advocacy center" for public policy on "cryptocurrency technologies such as Bitcoin." Its supporters already included well-known venture firm, Andreessen Horowitz (Marc Andreessen is a vocal bitcoin believer), and some of the biggest companies in the industry, including Chain, Coinbase, and Xapo. Now Coin Center is about to get a lot louder: This month it has raised $1 million in new donations, Yahoo Finance has learned.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-coin-center-fundraising-1-million-044312414.html
