Ripple co-founder donates $10 million in XRP to boost Kamala Harris’ campaign

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen has made another crypto donation to the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris.

On Oct. 21, Larsen took to X to confirm reports that he had donated $10 million in the XRP cryptocurrency to the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign. 

The latest contribution follows a $1 million donation that the Ripple co-founder and chairman made to political action committee Future Forward USA in August.

Larsen believes Harris will be good for crypto.

“It’s time for the Democrats to have a new approach to tech innovation, including crypto. I believe Kamala Harris will ensure that American technology dominates the world, which is why I’m donating $10M in XRP in support of her,” Larsen posted on X.

Harris’ campaign raised $100 million in September

Reports on Monday state that Future Forward USA raised $100 million in September, with Larsen among those to splash big on the Kamala Harris PAC. Others to donate include $10 million from billionaire Dustin Moskovitz, $9 million from the nonprofit Evidence for Impact and $5 million from Illinois governor JB Pritzker.

While Larsen’s donation to the PAC is massive, it’s not the only contribution he’s given towards the Harris’ campaign. He publicly endorsed the Democratic Party nominee in September. However, according to a CNBC report, Larsen made his first contribution of the election cycle for Harris.

In February, Larsen contributed the maximum personal amount of $6,600, with this coming nearly five months before President Joe Biden endorsed Harris.

Documents from the Federal Election Commission also show that the Ripple executive contributed $100k to the Harris Action Fund.

Per Forbes, 64-year Larsen’s net worth currently stands at around $3.1 billion. Most of the wealth is in the cryptocurrency XRP as well as in Ripple.

Ripple’s battle with the SEC

Although Larsen has contributed massively to Harris’ election bid – the vote is now just over two weeks away – the broader crypto community has not embraced the Democratic nominee.

Mainly, that’s been down to the hostile environment that the Biden/Harris administration cultivated for the crypto industry.

In particular, it has been the regulation by enforcement approach that the US Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted over the past four years.

One of the cases still to finalize is the Ripple vs. SEC case.

The Commission sued Ripple and its executives Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse in December 2020.

At the core of the lawsuit was the claim that XRP was a security and that Ripple and its execs had engaged in securities violations.

In July 2023, a judge ruled XRP not a security and Ripple agreed to a $125 million settlement with the securities watchdog.

The SEC also dropped its case against Larsen and Ripple CEO Garlinghouse in October 2023.

However, the SEC filed an appeal against the court’s ruling about XRP sales. Ripple filed a cross-appeal.

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