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Ripple Co-Founder Among Kamala Harris’ New Corporate Endorsers
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Camomile Shumba, Jesse Hamilton
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Ripple Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen is among the 88 corporate leaders who endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to be the future president of the United States in a letter.
Crypto companies have been very active in the current U.S. presidential election run, building a $169 million war chest at the Fairshake PAC, for which Ripple is one of the top contributors.
Apart from Fairshake, Ripple has sought to combat at least one prominent Democrat, and CEO Brad Garlinghouse has contributed to a PAC favoring Senate Republicans.
Ripple Co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen is among the 88 corporate leaders who endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to be the next U.S. president in a letter on Friday, revealing potential differences among company leaders.
While Larsen joined, other high-profile CEO’s come from the likes of review site Yelp, cloud storage company Box and social media platform Snapchats Snap and more, according to the letter CNBC was first to report, Ripple and CEO Brad Garlinghouse have targeted prominent Democrats in their campaign contributions.
The majority of the company’s contributions have gone to pro-crypto super political action committees (PACs) like the Fairshake political action committee, which is focused on getting crypto-friendly candidates elected from both major parties. Ripple Labs has been among the chief backers of Fairshake and its affiliates, giving about $48 million to influence the 2024 elections.
While the industry’s combined effort has tried to walk a tightrope between the two major political parties, Ripple’s giving has leaned into the Republican side in one key situation: trying to defeat crypto critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Garlinghouse, the company’s CEO, has also personally given $50,000 to a super-PAC aimed at building a Republican majority in the Senate, according to disclosures to the Federal Elections Commission. So his political sympathies may be at odds with the letter Larsen signed, which favors a Democratic administration under Harris.
The letter argued Harris would “continue to advance fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability, and a sound business environment.”
Ripple has been in a protracted fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over accusations the company violated securities laws in its sales of the token (XRP), and the case has represented one of the foundational battles between the industry and the regulator over how cryptocurrencies should be overseen by the U.S. government. The thinking of SEC Chair Gary Gensler is seen by the industry as being in line with Warren’s.
Though the crypto sector has pumped unprecedented levels of money into the congressional and presidential races this year, the emerging view of digital assets businesses and enthusiasts has favored the candidacy of former President Donald Trump, who has strongly embraced crypto after years of previous suspicion. Trump reiterated during a speech in New York on Thursday that he wants to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world if re-elected as president.
Harris has not been as open about her crypto policy stance in the same way her rival Donald Trump has. Her top campaign officials have signalled she will support policy efforts to encourage the growth of the crypto industry. And there have been recent moves by one of her supporting PACs to allow digital assets giving to her campaign.
“Coinbase can confirm that the Future Forward PAC has onboarded with Coinbase Commerce to accept crypto donations,” a spokesperson told CoinDesk earlier this week. Future Forward USA is a major source of support for Harris, and this step may signal that the Democrats are warming to crypto.
