Co-Founder of Ripple Labs Gives $1 Million in XRP to Pro-Kamala Harris Political Action Committee

Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen has donated $1 million worth of XRP cryptocurrency to a Democrat-aligned political action committee (PAC) in support of U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. 

The blockchain technology executive donated 1,754,815.29 XRP, worth a round $1 million, on August 14, according to an FEC filing
released
this week. The funds were funneled through Future Forward USA, a Democratic Party-aligned super PAC that has raised more than $200 million during the 2023-24 election cycle, campaign finance nonprofit Open Secrets’
data
shows. 

Larsen has donated a total of $1.9 million to support Harris’ campaign as of publication time,
per
Open Secrets. That includes two separate donations to Future Forward in 2023 worth $250,000 and $500,000, respectively. In early 2024, the super PAC splurged more than $200,000 on a massive advertising campaign in support of the Democrats’ bid for the White House, the New York Times
reported
. 

Individual contributors may put up a maximum of $3,300 per election to their preferred candidates, according to federal campaign finance rules. But by pouring funds into a super PAC—an organization that can raise unlimited funds to support candidates without directly contributing to their campaigns—ultra-wealthy donors may use their money to potentially influence election outcomes.

Larsen’s support for Harris may come as a surprise to some onlookers. 

Ripple Labs has
been fighting for four years
against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which sued the firm for allegedly conducting more than $1 billion in unregistered securities sales. It was also the Biden-Harris administration that
appointed SEC Chair Gary Gensler
, who Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has called a “political liability,” in 2021.

However, Larsen’s sizable donation is one of several signs that blockchain firms battered by the SEC during the Biden-Harris administration are keen to support the Democratic Party. In the past few months, staunch crypto advocates including Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz and pro-Bitcoin billionaire Mark Cuban have come out in support of Harris’ presidential bid. 

Endorsements and donations have poured in as Harris signaled her would-be administration could take a softer stance on crypto than its predecessor. Last month, Harris made her
first public nod to the crypto industry
on the campaign trail, promising to ensure the U.S. would remain “dominant in blockchain” technology.

A month earlier, pro-crypto Democratic congressmen
got behind “Crypto4Harris,”
a grassroots organization that hosted a virtual town hall to bolster crypto holders’ support for Harris.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed ac dui nisl. Mauris at consectetur justo. Mauris scelerisque commodo justo, at tristique nunc tempor a. Aenean cursus, ligula nec tristique ultricies, orci lorem pulvinar purus, nec laoreet ex est in est.

Sed eget velit faucibus, eleifend odio at, vehicula lacus. Proin rhoncus semper erat. Mauris non est risus. Suspendisse ac laoreet ipsum. Suspendisse potenti. Fusce nec mauris mi. Donec in augue id metus commodo venenatis. Cras a mollis felis. Nam tristique, dolor ac ultricies sollicitudin, erat massa tincidunt odio, ut dapibus purus ligula ut nunc. Proin viverra non nibh a vehicula. Cras nec ligula erat.

Phasellus imperdiet leo et lectus ultrices, vel fringilla nunc lobortis. Nunc id hendrerit nisi. Integer suscipit, eros vel fringilla finibus, nulla felis accumsan risus, ut efficitur nulla lectus eget dui. Integer hendrerit dui et justo egestas, quis dictum nunc malesuada. Donec auctor venenatis dui, non pellentesque tortor pharetra at. Vivamus id ipsum in ipsum lacinia pharetra nec a metus. Quisque tincidunt scelerisque nunc, ac varius diam fringilla eget.

Donec eu dui a mi fermentum vulputate. Morbi dictum, eros vitae placerat viverra, ex nisl varius risus, non luctus urna lacus sit amet nibh. Morbi quis ultricies libero. Nam nunc ligula, fermentum non risus in, feugiat euismod libero. Aliquam quis felis a risus feugiat auctor. Phasellus sit amet lacus non lorem elementum fringilla et vitae felis. Nam laoreet sapien eu lectus consequat accumsan.

Nam ultrices, nisi at tincidunt elementum, urna magna iaculis metus, id blandit justo odio nec lorem. Praesent sed sapien sapien. Proin cursus tortor at nibh feugiat posuere. Nunc non semper erat. Donec eu libero vestibulum, auctor massa eget, porta velit. Ut in congue mi. Fusce nec enim ac sapien ullamcorper fermentum.

Cras facilisis velit ac urna accumsan, eu dapibus felis rhoncus. Nullam auctor tristique mi. Nam sed massa nec massa iaculis dictum ut ac ipsum. Integer ac mauris nec tortor venenatis facilisis et nec ante. Quisque eleifend dui eget lacus tristique, a fermentum dolor posuere. Fusce et ex rutrum, tincidunt eros eu, congue mauris.

Donec ac augue sit amet tellus dictum venenatis ut a ante. Phasellus porta, mi eget ultrices tincidunt, orci purus ultricies eros, nec volutpat orci orci ac sem. Aliquam erat volutpat. Ut commodo odio at libero venenatis, nec aliquet eros euismod. Morbi a est quis sapien blandit sollicitudin. Sed eget ante auctor, semper magna non, ultricies magna.

Maecenas auctor rutrum porta. Nam vel augue odio. Aliquam euismod urna id rutrum efficitur. Aenean vel nunc quis libero fringilla cursus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Maecenas et tristique nibh, a convallis orci. Phasellus a purus odio. Nulla in justo at orci aliquam tincidunt. Nulla convallis sagittis ornare.

Integer eget dolor non augue dictum iaculis. Nulla facilisi. Donec tristique diam sed libero venenatis, at consequat odio consequat. Nullam id lorem eget massa luctus bibendum. Morbi malesuada libero vel risus aliquam interdum. Proin in tellus placerat, vehicula leo in, facilisis ipsum. Ut egestas convallis tempus. In porta hendrerit elementum. Suspendisse laoreet odio vitae risus ultricies congue.

In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Nullam tincidunt, magna non imperdiet congue, urna justo tincidunt tellus, sed vestibulum nulla lacus at massa. Vivamus eget lacus id enim dignissim porttitor. Curabitur a sodales mauris. Nullam varius scelerisque pellentesque. Etiam laoreet sapien ac dictum tincidunt. Duis suscipit dolor eu lectus dignissim, nec sodales nunc bibendum.

Sed euismod ex ac metus viverra suscipit. Curabitur vitae dolor porta, fermentum nisi a, ullamcorper lacus. Proin non neque eu nisi tincidunt viverra et eu nibh. Duis gravida, mauris vel dignissim ultricies, sem libero fermentum mauris, ac tincidunt orci magna ac nisl. Curabitur venenatis tempus laoreet. Sed id odio quis augue consequat ultricies. Nulla lacinia imperdiet justo, nec fermentum nisl vestibulum et.