Ripple Labs Co-Founder Donates $1 Million in XRP to Pro-Kamala Harris PAC

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.