Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen has donated $1 million worth of XRP cryptocurrency to a Democratic-leaning political action committee (PAC) in support of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
A blockchain technology executive donated 1,754,815.29 XRP, worth about $1 million, on Aug. 14, according to an FEC report released this week. The funds were funneled through Future Forward USA, a Democratic-affiliated super PAC that has raised more than $200 million during the 2023-24 election cycle, data from campaign finance nonprofit Open Secrets shows.
As of press time, Larsen has donated a total of $1.9 million to support Harris' campaign, according to Open Secrets. That includes two separate donations to Future Forward in 2023 of $250,000 and $500,000, respectively. In early 2024, the super PAC spent more than $200,000 on a massive ad campaign to support Democrats' bid for the White House, the New York Times reported.
Under federal campaign finance rules, individual donors can contribute a maximum of $3,300 per election to their preferred candidates. But by contributing to a super PAC — an organization that can raise unlimited funds to support candidates without directly contributing to their campaigns — ultra-wealthy donors can use their money to potentially influence the outcome of an election.
Larsen's support for Harris may come as a surprise to some observers.
Ripple Labs has been battling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for four years, which sued the firm for allegedly conducting more than $1 billion in unregistered securities sales. The Biden-Harris administration also appointed Gary Gensler as SEC chairman in 2021, whom Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse called a “political liability.”
But Larsen’s sizable donation is one of several signs that blockchain companies that have been battered by the SEC during the Biden-Harris administration are looking to support the Democratic Party. In recent months, cryptocurrency purveyors including Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz and Bitcoin billionaire Mark Cuban have come out in support of Harris’s presidential campaign.
Endorsements and donations have poured in as Harris has signaled that her prospective administration may take a softer stance on cryptocurrencies than her predecessor. Last month, Harris made her first public nod to the crypto industry on the campaign trail, promising to ensure the U.S. remains “dominant in blockchain technology.”