Ripple Chairman Chris Larsen Gave at Least $22.5 Million to US Midterm Candidates, Super PACs, Criticizes Industry PAC

Chris Larsen, Ripple’s co-founder and chairman, has donated more than $22 million to US political groups.

In an interview with Bloomberg published on October 9, Larsen said he had contributed at least $22.5 million of his own money to candidates and super PACs for the midterm elections. He has long been a major political donor in the San Francisco area.

Larsen also said he plans to expand his political involvement. “To engage effectively in politics and policy, you have to stay involved through every election cycle.”

He also distanced himself from the crypto industry’s political giving strategy. After Fairshake, a crypto industry super PAC, said it would spend $30 million to unseat Brown, the Democratic Senate candidate in Ohio, Larsen committed $4 million of his own money to support Brown within days.

Larsen called Fairshake’s decision “a very wrong decision.” He said Brown is “not an anti-crypto figure” and that treating him like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren would be a mistake.

Ripple, however, has contributed a cumulative $93 million to Fairshake. Along with Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z, Ripple is one of the group’s main corporate backers.

Ripple is reviewing whether to provide additional funding to Fairshake. A company representative said the final decision will be made by Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse.