Ripple’s Chris Larsen Makes $1 Million XRP Donation to Support Harris’ Presidential Campaign

Despite recent comments from SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, that “it’s unlikely this stuff [cryptocurrency] is gonna be a currency”, crypto seems to work just fine for donations to presidential candidates. Even those supposed crypto sceptics over at the Democratic Party are getting in on that sweet crypto-donation action. 

It was revealed last week that Ripple co-founder, Chris Larsen made a donation in August of US$1 million worth of XRP to the Harris-supporting Political Action Committee (PAC), Future Forward. It marks the first cryptocurrency donation to the Harris campaign. 

It’s significant that this donation came from a co-founder of Ripple, one of the chief flag-bearers in the US digital assets industry’s fight against the overzealous Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

It may be that Ripple is trying to endear itself to a future Harris administration in an attempt to get the SEC to back off. It could also be that the crypto giant is trying to send a message directly to the SEC that even the Democratic candidate for the presidency is prepared to accept donations in XRP, so maybe calm down on the legal action. 

Of course, another possibility is that Ripple and Larsen just genuinely prefer Kamala.

Related: Over 80 Execs Support Kamala Harris, Including Ripple Co-founder, Donors Urge Firing of Gensler

Larsen’s Donation Comes Amid Wave of Corporate Support for Harris

According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Larsen made the donation to Future Forward PAC on August 14 in the form of 1.75 million XRP, which at that time was worth US$1 million. The XRP has since been swapped for USDC to reduce its volatility.

In all, Future Forward has so far raised over US$200 million for the Harris campaign, with notable contributions coming from the likes of Bloomberg founder and former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg and crypto exchange, Coinbase.

In September, Larsen joined over 80 other corporate executives in signing a letter publicly endorsing Harris for president. Larsen’s high profile support for Harris comes at a crucial time for Ripple, following as it does, on the heels of the SEC’s decision to appeal the final judgement in its long running case against the crypto company. In recent days Ripple has also opted to cross-appeal the judgement. 

No doubt Ripple could use all the political goodwill it can get as the company seeks to shape a more favourable regulatory environment for crypto over the next few years.

Crypto A Key Issue in This Year’s Election

Crypto has become something of a hot button issue in this year’s presidential election, with both candidates vowing to support the industry’s growth in the US. 

Trump has been the more outspoken champion of crypto, saying he wants to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet”.  Trump and his family have also recently announced the token sale for its own DeFi project, World Liberty Finance, is planned for this week (personally, I would never buy Trump-backed cryptocurrencies, steaks, bibles, watches, university degrees or sneakers*).

While she’s taken a more measured approach (and to my knowledge, not launched any shitcoins) Harris has also been supportive of crypto, promising to make the US “dominant in blockchain” if elected president.

Related: Kamala Harris Promises to Make US “Dominant in Blockchain”

This courting of the crypto vote makes sense given how many Americans now consider crypto an important political issue. A recent survey commissioned by Consensys and conducted by research firm HarrisX found that 49% of US voters think it’s important for a political candidate to have pro-crypto policies. The survey also found 19% of US voters currently hold crypto (mostly Bitcoin) and another third of voters say they plan to purchase crypto in the next 12 months. 

*Disclaimer: This is not financial (and/or dietary/fashion) advice.