The crypto money is coming in hard and fast ahead of next month’s election.
The latest comes from Ripple’s co-founder and executive chairman, Chris Larsen, who said Monday that he has donated another $10 million in XRP, the seventh biggest digital asset by market cap, to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for U.S. president.
Ripple confirmed to Decrypt that Larsen had made the personal donation, following his tweet on the matter. The New York Times reported Sunday that Larsen had donated $10 million to Future Forward, a prominent Democratic PAC, amid a record-setting fundraising quarter for the Harris campaign and associated organizations. Larsen tweeted a confirmation of the report, noting that the donation was made in XRP.
“It’s time for the Democrats to have a new approach to tech innovation, including crypto,” he wrote, adding that he was sure Harris would “ensure that American technology dominates the world.”
Earlier this month, an FEC filing showed that Chris Larsen had donated 1,754,815.29 XRP, worth $1 million, to the same PAC back in August. A Ripple Labs representative confirmed to Decrypt that the latest $10 million personal donation to the PAC did not include the earlier batch of XRP.
Larsen helped set up Ripple, a fintech company that wants to make it easier for businesses to move money across borders. He also co-founded XRP, the seventh biggest digital coin by market cap. The company and XRP operate independently, though Ripple utilizes XRP for its services.
Ripple’s dealings with the government have typically been combative, and the company made headlines last year after partially winning a long-running lawsuit brought against it by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC had hit Ripple with a $1.3 billion lawsuit in 2020—alleging that the company sold unregistered securities in the form of the cryptocurrency XRP to investors to raise funds.
But last year, a judge ruled that programmatic sales of XRP on cryptocurrency exchanges to retail investors did not qualify as securities.
The judge also ruled that $728 million worth of tokens for institutional sales did constitute unregistered securities sales, but the overall decision has been interpreted as a win by Ripple—and the crypto industry as a whole. Ripple and the SEC are still engaged in the appeals process.
Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse weighed in on Larsen’s latest donation in a tweet reply, referencing the company’s ongoing fight against the regulator.
“I respect Chris’ (and everyone’s!) right to support whomever they think is best to lead the U.S. We need to immediately change course from this administration’s misguided war on crypto,” Garlinghouse tweeted. “Ripple will continue to engage with both Democrats and Republicans in the final days of the campaigns (and after the election) to promote pro-crypto policies. It’s not about party lines; it’s about championing policies that drive blockchain and crypto innovation.”
Ahead of next month’s election, Republican candidate Donald Trump has come out as the more crypto-friendly candidate—and has received more money from the industry as a result.
The Harris campaign has only recently started talking about how it would help the ecosystem in the U.S.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
