The Securities and Exchange Commission, overseen by crypto millionaire Paul Atkins, just agreed to drop its lawsuit against the cryptocurrency exchange Ripple after Biden-era regulators sued the firm for alleged securities fraud. Ripple, which will still have to pay a $125 million fine, gave $4.9 million to Trump’s inauguration in January and paid nearly $800,000 to lobby the federal government in the first half of fiscal 2025. That included $260,000 spent lobbying on issues related to crypto regulation paid to DC’s newly crowned lobbying king, Ballard Partners.

Ballard Partners was founded in 1998 by wealthy conservative donor Brian Ballard — a major MAGA fundraiser since Trump’s first campaign. Ballard Partners also previously employed Trump’s White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, until 2020, and his attorney general, Pam Bondi, until her confirmation in January.