As the upcoming “United States crypto election” approaches, donations in digital assets are flowing in steadily.
Prominent individuals in the cryptocurrency sphere have not hesitated to make their political preferences known, channeling significant contributions to their selected candidates.
One recent notable contribution came from Chris Larsen. The co-creator and chairman of Ripple [XRP] has openly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a post on X (previously Twitter) dating back to the 21st of October, Larsen elaborated on the reasons behind his donation.
He expressed confidence in Harris’ potential to cultivate a forward-thinking approach to technological innovation, particularly within the cryptocurrency domain.
Larsen stated,
“I’m pledging $10M in XRP to support her.”
This substantial donation was channeled to Future Forward, a political action committee (PAC) lending its support to Harris in the upcoming U.S. election.
XRP Support for Harris?
It is noteworthy that Larsen’s backing of the Democratic candidate is not a recent development. Reports from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) indicate that he contributed XRP tokens worth $1 million back in August.
Interestingly, Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett pointed out that this marked the first documented cryptocurrency donation to Harris’ campaign.
At the time of reporting, Larsen’s total donations to PACs supporting Harris had surpassed $11.8 million.
Larsen’s donation was part of a broader fundraising initiative. According to New York Times reporter Theodore Schleifer, in the previous month, Future Forward amassed over $100 million.
This fundraising included $10 million from Dustin Moskovitz, the co-founder of Asana and Facebook, another $9 million from the non-profit Evidence for Impact, and $5 million from Illinois Governor Jay Robert Pritzker.
Furthermore, as per the latest figures from Open Secrets, the PAC has raised over $200 million to reinforce Harris’ campaign against Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Crypto Ties to the Trump Campaign
The news of Larsen’s donations comes on the heels of Elon Musk’s (CEO of Tesla and SpaceX) recent mention of XRP, as reported by CryptoCrypto.
Musk, a staunch supporter of Trump, has consistently voiced his opposition to the Vice President. In fact, he stands as one of the primary donors to Trump’s campaign.
According to FEC filings released in early October, Musk has donated nearly $75 million to his own political action committee, America PAC.
Additionally, another PAC supporting Trump’s campaign has amassed $7.5 million in cryptocurrency donations, as highlighted by CryptoCrypto.
Chances of Trump’s Victory
As the election date nears, the most recent data from Polymarket indicates that the odds are in favor of Trump. The Republican candidate holds a 63.7% probability of winning the presidency.
In contrast, Harris trails with a 36.2% likelihood. With the surge in crypto donations, it is evident that digital assets are playing an increasingly significant role in the upcoming presidential elections.