The Ripple co-founder donated $1 million in XRP to the Harris campaign
Records obtained from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show that Ripple co-founder and CEO Chris Larson contributed 1,754,815.29 XRP (XRP) to the Harris-Waltz 2024 presidential campaign with a donation of $1 million.
The FEC records the contribution was made on August 14, 2024 to Harris' Future Forward Political Action Committee (PAC). According to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, this represents the first documented crypto contribution to the Harris campaign.
In September, a spokesperson for Future Forward told Cointelegraph that the PAC was accepting crypto donations for Harris after false reports that the campaign was directly accepting crypto campaign donations.
According to the FEC, Future Forward has raised more than $200 million in contributions since October 2024.
Chris Larson's XRP donation to Harris PAC. Source: Federal Election Commission
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Larson and corporate executives pledged support for Harris.
The Ripple Labs founder joined 87 other corporate executives who pledged their support for Harris in a September letter:
“With Kamala Harris in the White House, the business community can be sure they will have a president who wants American industries to thrive.”
The letter's signatories affirmed that “Vice President Harris has a strong record of advancing measures to encourage business investment in the United States.”
Harris tried to court the crypto industry.
In the same month, they announced a gathering of crypto industry advocacy groups and executives to raise $100,000 for the Harris campaign to influence the vice president's stance on US digital asset policy.
Industry executives had hoped the donation would move Harris away from her administration's current hostility to crypto.
After industry pressure and publicity, Harris finally broke her silence and made the campaign's first statements about crypto policy. The Harris campaign responded in late September:
“We will work together to invest in America's competitiveness, to invest in America's future. We encourage new technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting our consumers and investors.
However, the statement does not represent a departure from current management policy. Parts of the response were lifted from the Biden administration's May 2024 announcement of the bipartisan repeal of SAB-121 at the end of the month.
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