The Injective Policy Institute (IPI) is officially live.

Based in Washington DC, the IPI is the policy and research arm of Injective, built to work with regulators, lawmakers, and other stakeholders on the policy framework for onchain finance in the United States. Injective is one of the largest American-founded crypto ecosystems and the first blockchain purpose-built for finance. The IPI brings that operating experience into the policy conversation in Washington.

Injective helped pioneer onchain derivatives, perpetual futures, and tokenized real world assets. The IPI works alongside policymakers as the engineers who shipped much of the technology now under regulatory review.

The Crypto Policy Challenge in America

America's approach to DeFi, onchain derivatives, and decentralized markets is still being written. Builders and users do not yet have a clear path to governance which is unfortunately pushing Innovation, talent, and capital overseas.

The technology already works at global scale. Stablecoin payments, perpetual futures, decentralized lending, and tokenized equities are thriving today. Other major jurisdictions are setting rules in real time. Without an American framework, the country cedes leadership in a sector it created.

The IPI exists to contribute technical expertise, policy opinion + analysis, and practical recommendations to that effort.

An Unmatched Leadership & Advisory Board

The IPI is chaired by John Medel and launches with two external advisors who pair active federal government experience with a deep public record on emerging technology policy in Washington.

John Medel, Chair

John leads Injective’s engagement with policymakers, regulators, and industry stakeholders to advance responsible innovation across blockchain and decentralized finance. Before joining Injective, John served as Senior Public Policy Manager at Coinbase and Vice President at Goldman Sachs, where he developed and executed global market entry strategies, built coalitions across key jurisdictions, and led advocacy on financial policy, regulatory engagement, and strategic initiatives across both traditional and digital markets. Earlier in his career, he held roles at Fried Frank as a Corporate Research Analyst and at AMR International in London as a Senior Consultant specializing in commercial due diligence and market intelligence. John holds a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a Master of Science in Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Ashok Pinto, Advisor

Ashok Pinto served across all three branches of the U.S. government, most recently as Executive Director of SelectUSA at the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, the federal program that drives business investment and job creation in the United States. He previously held Counselor roles at the U.S. Treasury Department (Office of the General Counsel and Office of International Affairs) and was Senior Advisor to the U.S. Executive Director at the World Bank. On Capitol Hill, he held senior counsel and policy roles with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He was also Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to the President in the White House Counsel's Office. Earlier in his career, Ashok was a Director in Intel's Intellectual Property Policy Group and an intellectual property litigator in private practice.

Stacey Rolland, Advisor

Stacey Rolland is a leading expert in emerging technology policy and strategy in Washington, DC. She brings nearly two decades of experience in Congress, the Treasury Department, private sector risk management, and government relations. She is the founder and CEO of Zero One Strategies, a specialized government relations firm focused on emerging tech policy in areas such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, decentralized technologies, cyber, data, and digital infrastructure, as well as the multiple policy issues impacting these sectors, including tax and financial services.

Before founding Zero One Strategies, Stacey established and led an emerging technology government relations practice at a top-ten government relations and public affairs firm in Washington, DC. She also served in senior risk and compliance roles at Capital One. In the public sector, Stacey served within the Treasury Department as Chief of Staff to the Office of Tax Policy and senior advisor to the Office of Legislative Affairs. She also served as senior tax policy advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Xavier Becerra. Stacey holds a J.D. from UCLA School of Law, a B.A. from Smith College, and CIPP/US and CIPM data certifications from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). She serves on multiple boards to emerging technology organizations and frequently speaks and publishes on emerging technology policy issues.

Together, John, Ashok, and Stacey give the IPI an operator with policy experience inside Coinbase, Goldman Sachs, and Injective, plus direct external relationships across the Trump administration, the U.S. Treasury Department, Senate Commerce, and Democratic House leadership. The advisory board may expand over time but launches with these two named advisors.

IPI: Spearheading Pro-Crypto Regulation in America

The IPI concentrates on three areas shaping the future of American finance.

  • DeFi. Regulatory clarity for decentralized protocols, safe harbors, developer protections, and guidance for non-custodial systems.
  • Onchain Derivatives and Perpetuals. Injective pioneered onchain perpetual futures. The IPI advocates for regulatory pathways that let Americans access and build onchain derivatives markets.
  • Stablecoins. Frameworks that recognize stablecoins as financial infrastructure while preserving competition and innovation.

Joining the Blockchain Association

The IPI is joining the Blockchain Association (BA) as a member and will support the Association's work on tokenization. BA today stands as the leading US government pro-crypto advocacy group.

Injective has already taken tokenized equities, FX, commodities, and exotics live onchain at scale. That operating history informs the policy work the IPI brings to the Association on how tokenized assets should be treated under federal law.

Member-level engagement is intentional. It places Injective's research, data, and technical briefings directly inside the industry body leading crypto policy advocacy in Washington, rather than alongside it.

Established Track Record

The IPI does not start at zero. The team is already on the record across the leading government agencies in the US.

July 2025. Written input to the SEC on DeFi Protocols Under the Exchange Act.

October 2025. SEC comment letter arguing that DeFi lending is not a securities transaction.

January 2026. Direct meeting with the SEC Crypto Task Force.

All three filings are public on sec.gov.

Get in touch

The IPI works with policymakers, counsel, press, and partner institutions on the policy questions that will define the next phase of American finance. Reach the team at contact@injectivepolicy.org or visit injectivepolicy.org.

About the Injective Policy Institute

The Injective Policy Institute is the policy and research arm of Injective, one of the largest American-founded crypto ecosystems. Based in Washington DC. Injective Labs, the original developer of the Injective blockchain, is headquartered in New York City. Injective is the first blockchain purpose-built for finance and a pioneer of onchain derivatives, perpetual futures, and tokenized real world assets.

About Injective

Injective is a lightning fast interoperable layer one blockchain optimized for building premier Web3 finance applications. Injective provides developers with plug-and-play modules for creating unmatched dApps. INJ is the native asset that powers Injective and its rapidly growing ecosystem. Injective is incubated by Binance and is backed by prominent investors such as Jump Crypto, Pantera and Mark Cuban.

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