Kristin Smith, the longtime CEO of the Blockchain Association, is leaving next month to take a role as president of the new Solana Policy Institute

Kristin Smith, the longtime chief executive of the Blockchain Association, a leading lobbying group for crypto policy in Washington, is leaving next month to take a role as president of the new Solana Policy Institute

Kristin Smith, the longtime chief executive of the Blockchain Association, is leaving next month to take a role as president of the new Solana Policy Institute, the group announced Tuesday.

Smith has led the Blockchain Association for nearly seven years — a dramatic period for the nascent industry. Since late last year, the industry has found allies running all levels of the U.S. government.

The Blockchain Association has been a central player in the industry’s lobbying.

Earlier this week, Miller Whitehouse-Levine founded the Solana group and announced his position as CEO shortly after stepping down from the Defi Education Fund.

The group's website said it will focus its message on "how decentralized networks like Solana are the future of the digital economy."

Its source of funding has yet to be announced.

Its board is now searching for Smith's replacement.

Whitehouse-Levin once worked in the Blockchain Association's policy operations.

"Innovators deserve to have the clarity they need to build a frictionless, Internet-based global economy — a future we believe is achievable with the right laws, rules and frameworks," he said in a statement during this week's launch of the Solana group.