Ripple Labs Founder Donates Additional 10 Million in XRP to Support Kamala Harris

Cryptocurrencies are flowing into the upcoming elections at a challenging yet rapid pace, according to 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 USD worth of XRP, the seventh-largest digital asset by market value, to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the US presidency.
Ripple has confirmed that Larsen made the personal donation on Twitter.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Larsen donated 10 million USD to the prominent Democratic political action committee “Future Forward,” marking a record-breaking fundraising quarter for Harris’ campaign team and associated organizations. Larsen confirmed the report on Twitter, stating that the donation was made in XRP.
“Now is the time for Democrats to embrace new technological innovations, including cryptocurrency,” he wrote, adding that he believes Harris will “ensure American technological dominance.”
Earlier this month, a document from the FEC revealed that Larsen donated 1,754,815.29 XRP worth 1 million USD to the same PAC in August. A representative of Ripple Labs confirmed that the recent 10 million USD personal donation to the PAC does not include the previous batch of XRP.
Larsen co-founded Ripple, a fintech company aiming to make it easier for businesses to transfer funds across borders. He also co-created XRP, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market value.
The company and XRP operate independently, though Ripple leverages XRP to provide services.
Ripple’s dealings with the government have often been contentious, with the company making headlines last year after partially winning a long-running lawsuit brought against it by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in 2020, seeking 1.3 billion USD and accusing the company of selling 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 on cryptocurrency exchanges to retail investors did not qualify as securities.
The judge also ruled that the institutional sales of tokens, worth 728 million USD, did constitute unregistered securities sales, but this overall decision was interpreted as a victory for Ripple and the broader cryptocurrency industry. Ripple and the SEC are still involved in the appeals process.
Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse commented on Larsen’s latest donation in a Twitter reply, referring to the company’s ongoing battle with regulatory agencies.
“I respect Chris (and everyone!) having the right to support who they believe is best suited to lead the US. We need to change the misguided war on crypto by this administration immediately. Ripple will continue to engage with Democrats and Republicans in the final days (and after the election) to promote crypto-friendly policies. This isn’t about party lines; it’s about supporting policies that drive blockchain and crypto innovation,” Garlinghouse wrote on Twitter.
Ahead of next month’s elections, 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 US.
Editor: Andrew Hayward