Cryptocurrencies are flowing into the upcoming election in the United States, according to a report by Coin World. The latest news comes from Chris Larsen, co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple, who announced on Monday that he has donated 10 million XRP, the seventh-largest digital asset by market capitalization, to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the presidency. Ripple has confirmed Larsen’s personal donation, which was made using XRP.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Larsen donated $10 million to the prominent Democratic political action committee “Future Forward,” marking a record-breaking fundraising quarter for Harris’ campaign team and affiliated organizations. Larsen confirmed the report on Twitter and noted that the donation was made in XRP. “It’s time for Democrats to embrace new technology innovations, including cryptocurrencies,” he wrote, adding that he believes Harris will “ensure American technological dominance.”
Earlier this month, FEC documents revealed that Chris Larsen donated 1,754,815.29 XRP worth $1 million to the same PAC in August. A representative from Ripple Labs confirmed that the recent $10 million personal donation does not include the previous batch of XRP.
Larsen co-founded Ripple, a fintech company aiming to make cross-border money transfers easier for businesses. He also co-created XRP, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. While the company and XRP operate independently, Ripple utilizes XRP to provide services.
Ripple’s dealings with the government have often been contentious, and the company made headlines last year after partially winning a long-standing lawsuit filed against it by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC sued Ripple for $1.3 billion in 2020, alleging that the company sold unregistered securities in the form of the cryptocurrency XRP to investors to raise funds. However, last year, a judge ruled that the programmatic sales of XRP to retail investors on cryptocurrency exchanges did not qualify as securities. The judge also ruled that the institutional sales of tokens worth $728 million did constitute unregistered securities sales, but this overall decision was interpreted as a victory for Ripple and the entire cryptocurrency industry. Ripple and the SEC are still in the process of appeals.
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs, commented on Larsen’s latest donation in a Twitter reply, referring to the company’s ongoing struggles with regulatory agencies. “I respect Chris (and everyone!) exercising their right to support whomever they think is best suited to lead the US. We need to change the misguided war on crypto by this administration now,” Garlinghouse wrote. “Ripple will continue engaging with Democrats and Republicans in the last days of the campaign (and after) to promote crypto-friendly policies. This isn’t about party lines; it’s about supporting policies that foster blockchain and cryptocurrency innovation.”
Ahead of next month’s election, Republican candidate Donald Trump has emerged as a more crypto-friendly candidate and has consequently received more funding from the industry. Harris’ campaign team has only recently begun discussing how it will help the ecosystem in the United States.
Editor: Andrew Hayward