💰 Cryptocurrency coalition to pay D.C. lobbyists in crypto

A group of financial technology companies is banding together to lobby lawmakers and regulators on cryptocurrencies -- and they plan to pay their Washington advocates partly in crypto. The firms, all based in the San Francisco area, include digital money transfer company Ripple ($XRP) and several startups. They’re announcing Thursday that they’ve started a coalition called the Securing America’s Internet of Value Coalition and are retaining Klein/Johnson, a bipartisan lobby shop focusing on issues related to technology and financial services. The companies’ lobbying push comes as Congress and agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission are trying to figure out what kind of federal rules should apply to digital tokens and the blockchain technology that underlies them. Among officials’ concerns are massive price swings in the crypto markets, a spate of fraudulent public offerings involving the coins and their use in criminal activities like drug dealing.