As the US presidential election approached, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen revealed the reason for supporting US Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Larsen became the crypto industry’s largest donor this election cycle following his two XRP donations to Harris’ campaign earlier this month.
Kamala Harris opts for a ‘completely different approach’
Chris Larsen, co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple, recently connected CNBC to discuss his endorsement and crypto donations to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign.
During the interview, Larsen claimed that his support for Vice President Harris was based on the belief that her administration would approach the crypto industry differently than the Biden administration.
The Ripple co-founder suggested that the Biden administration was not against the industry. Instead, they “didn’t pay attention” and handed control of the sector’s regulatory approach to figures like Senator Warren and Gary Gensler, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Larsen noted that Senator Elizabeth Warren led a “misguided war on crypto,” which led to London and Singapore taking leadership of the industry “when it should have been in the US.”
Furthermore, the heavily criticized “regulation-by-enforcement” approach failed to protect U.S.-based investors, allowing “sketchy foreign operators like FTX to rip off American consumers.”
The Ripple executive chairman shared his excitement about Harris’ economic message, noting that the US vice president met with several figures from various industries, including the crypto sector. For Larsen, the Democratic candidate’s message is “pro-innovation,” seeking to ensure that “American champions dominate their industries globally.”
He also suggested that the Harris administration’s DNA “comes from the world capital of innovation,” giving him confidence that it will be a very different approach than the failed Biden administration.
Ripple co-founder continued support of Harris’ campaign
It is worth noting that while many crypto experts and figures have defended Donald Trump’s pro-industry stance, Larsen has joined Mark Cuban in publicly advocating for the US vice president. If reported by Bitcoinist, Ripple co-founder, along with another eighty-seven business leaders, endorsed Kamala Harris in early September after signing a letter revealing his support.
This month, he continued to support Harris’ campaign after donating approximately $11.8 million in XRP to the candidate’s Super Political Action Committee (PAC), Future Forward USA, becoming the largest crypto donor this campaign cycle.
On October 11, Ripple’s executive chairman sent $1 million worth of XRP to Future Forward, marking the first documented crypto donation to the Super PAC. This was it followed through a $10 million donation on October 21, with Larsen expressing his belief that “Kamala Harris will ensure American technology dominates the world.”
Since then, Larsen has been vouching for the Democratic candidate, claiming that “it’s time for Democrats to have a new approach, including crypto.” During the CNBC interview, he stated that the crypto war is over as US investors will see bipartisan support from whoever wins the November election.
I think the good news now is that we’re seeing this kind of bipartisan support from whoever wins the White House. Whether Republicans or Democrats, I think the war in crypto is over and we want to encourage pro-digital political leaders.
This appears to be a growing sentiment within the industry, with figures like Pro-XRP advocate John Deaton challenging Senator Warren’s seat in the Senate. In the meantime, investors have done just that noted that the industry is “non-partisan” and that users should force both parties to “fall in line” as crypto will prevail regardless of party.
XRP is trading at $0.52 in the three-day chart. Source: XRPUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com