CoinDesk
The American Innovation Project has named Jacob Smagula, formerly of MARA's government affairs team and currently on the DeFi Education Fund's policy desk, as its latest Policy Innovation Fellow. Smagula, a 2026 Claremont McKenna graduate, will join Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres' (D-NY) team; a second fellow, Hugo Swangstu, will work in the Washington office of Representative Shomari Figures (D-AL).
The two-year-old advocacy group, founded in August 2025 and backed by Digital Currency Group, Coinbase, Kraken, Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, the Solana Policy Institute, Stand With Crypto and Uniswap Labs, runs the fellowship to place congressional staff with hands-on crypto and AI exposure into member offices. Torres framed the hires as preparation for a generation of lawmakers who will set policy on technologies "reshaping our economy, national security, and daily lives."
Why it matters
AIP's roster of backers is essentially a who's-who of the US crypto industry's policy-and-ventures axis, and the fellowship is one of the clearest mechanisms converting that donor base into Hill staffing. Landing a former MARA and DeFi Education Fund operative in a senior Democratic office — Torres has been a vocal crypto-skeptic-turned-engaged voice on digital-asset market structure — gives the industry a working-level contact on legislation ranging from stablecoin frameworks to FIT21-style market-structure drafts. The Cedar Innovation Foundation's anonymous funder pool, which also backs AIP, underlines that this is a coordinated staffing effort rather than a one-off placement.
Market impact
The fellowship itself does not move price, but the throughput matters: every fellow embedded in a member office becomes a future drafter, reviewer, or staffer-of-record on crypto bills. AIP's expansion is timed against a heavy US digital-asset legislative calendar — stablecoin rules, market structure revisions, and potential CBDC debates — and the industry is paying to make sure the staff writing those bills have already read a MARA deck and a DeFi Education Fund brief. Expect more placements like this from AIP and its peers through 2026.
Frequently asked questions
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What is the American Innovation Project (AIP)?
AIP is a non-profit digital-asset advocacy organization founded in August 2025. It is backed by crypto industry players including Digital Currency Group, Coinbase, Kraken, Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, the Solana Policy Institute, Stand With Crypto, and Uniswap Labs.
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Who is Jacob Smagula and where is he going?
Smagula is a 2026 Claremont McKenna graduate who previously worked on the government affairs team at MARA, a publicly traded bitcoin miner, and currently serves on the policy team at the DeFi Education Fund. He is joining Representative Ritchie Torres' (D-NY) office as an AIP Policy Innovation Fellow.
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What is AIP's Policy Innovation Fellowship?
It is a two-part program that places congressional staff with hands-on exposure to emerging technologies such as AI and digital assets. The fellowship rotates fellows into member offices to give them direct legislative experience.
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Which members of Congress are hosting AIP fellows?
Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) is hosting Jacob Smagula, and Representative Shomari Figures (D-AL) is hosting Hugo Swangstu, a 2025 University of Washington graduate and former Torres and Adam Smith intern.
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Why does this fellowship matter for crypto policy?
It places staff with industry backgrounds into the offices that draft and review digital-asset legislation, giving the crypto sector working-level relationships on stablecoin, market-structure, and CBDC bills moving through Congress.
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