Ripple, as part of a consortium of San Francisco-based cryptocurrency startups called Securing America’s Internet of Value Coalition, plan to lobby the U.S. government in support of both cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Klein/Johnson Group, which is a Washington, D.C.-based fintech lobbying organization with ties to both Republicans and Democrats, will be in charge of the actual lobbying efforts, and they hope to convince legislators that the government needs to support the industry. Not only will they be lobbying members of Congress, but they also will be lobbying the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and any other government agency whose responsibilities relate to digital currencies. Interestingly, the consortium — which also includes RippleWorks, Coil, Yaka and PolySign — will pay Klein/Johnson Group partially in cryptocurrency. In addition to paying them $25,000 per month, they will pay them 10,000 XRP per month. Though the lobbying firm says that they will convert the digital currency into U.S. dollars prior to reporting the payments. Chris Larsen, who is Ripple's Executive Chairman, says that a lot of people in the nation's capital are interested in the subject of cryptocurrencies, but he believes that they are right now receiving a lot of incorrect information. Just in the past week, a group of legislators sent the SEC a letter, requesting that agency confirm whether or not cryptocurrency tokens are securities. Also last week the House of Representatives passed a bill that would create a task force responsible for preventing terrorists from using digital currencies in support of their crimes. This past June, Jay Clayton — who is the chairman of the SEC — insisted that bitcoin is not a security, because it is meant to replace fiat currencies. Soon after this, another top SEC official stated that Ethereum would not be considered a security, either. While the SEC has yet to comment specifically about Ripple's status, Corey Johnson — who is the company's Chief Market Strategist — insists that Ripple is most certainly not a security, as he believes that it does not meet the legal definition of a security.