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Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple.

Source: YouTube

SAN FRANCISCO — For months, crypto companies and their executives have been pouring tens of millions of dollars into Donald Trump’s effort to win the White House. Chris Larsen isn’t one of them.

The co-founder and chairman of Ripple recently contributed $1 million worth of XRP tokens, the currency created by Ripple in 2012, to Future Forward, a super PAC that’s supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

Larsen, who’s backed candidates across the aisle for the last few years, told CNBC in an interview on Monday that his comfort level with Harris comes from conversations he’s had with people inside the campaign and what he’s seen from the vice president since she replaced President Biden at the top of the ticket in July.

It helps that Harris is from the Bay Area.

“She knows people who have grown up in the innovation economy her whole life,” Larsen said. “So I think she gets it at a fundamental level, in a way that I think the Biden folks were just not paying attention to, or maybe just didn’t make the connection between empowering workers and making sure you have American champions dominating their industries.”

Larsen’s affection for the Democratic nominee isn’t brand new. In February, he gave the maximum personal contribution of $6,600 to Harris (which would cover the primary and general election), about five months before she became the Democratic presidential nominee, FEC filings show. At the same time, he contributed $100,000 to the Harris Action Fund PAC.

In total, Larsen has given around $1.9 million to support Harris’ campaign directly and through PACs, according to FEC data compiled by crypto market and blockchain analyst James Delmore and independently verified by CNBC.

Larsen, 64, has a net worth of $3.1 billion, according to Forbes, primarily from his ownership of XRP and involvement in Ripple, which provides blockchain technology for financial services companies.

He’s part of an industry that’s become suddenly prominent in political fundraising, though more heavily in support of Republicans. Nearly half of all the corporate money flowing into the election has come from the crypto industry, according to a recent report from the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen.

Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she arrives at Erie International Airport ahead of a campaign rally, in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 14, 2024. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

The sum was raised from a mix of contributors, with Coinbase, Ripple, and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz accounting for most of those business donations. The industry has raised roughly 13 times the amount it brought in during the last presidential election year.

Close to two-thirds of crypto contributions have gone either to supporting Republicans or opposing Democrats, according to Delmore’s compilation of FEC data. Trump has received more than $4 million in virtual tokens, an FEC filing shows, and in July, the ex-president keynoted a major bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

‘More pragmatic approach’

Larsen’s recent contributions include $1 million to Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in December, and almost $7,000 in February to John Deaton, the Massachusetts Republican who’s taking on Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a vocal crypto critic. He also donated $250,000 in 2022 to the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund and contributed to a pro-Biden PAC in 2020.

Larsen told CNBC that he’s “really confident” that Harris will bring a “more pragmatic approach and clear rules” to the crypto industry, in contrast to the current situation with Gary Gensler running the SEC. Gensler’s open hostility towards much of the crypto industry and his aggressive crackdowns on companies, including Ripple, is a big reason why many in the space say they’re supporting Trump.

In January, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who has also donated to members of both parties, called Gensler a “political liability.”

“What we’ve had to date has been almost like purposeful chaos by Gensler to kind of crush the domestic industry,” Larsen said. That “has only empowered sketchier foreign operations. It just doesn’t make any sense,” he said, adding that “Gensler must be the most unpopular person in Washington, D.C.”

CNBC reached out to Gensler’s office for comment and didn’t hear back.

Ripple’s legal chief said in June that the company has spent over $100 million on litigation to defend itself against civil charges brought by the SEC. In 2020, before Biden took office, the SEC accused Ripple, Garlinghouse and Larsen of violating securities laws by acting as unregistered brokers of digital currency tokens, which the SEC regulates as securities. The SEC later dismissed the charges against the two Ripple executives, and the company has denied it broke securities laws. They remain in active litigation.

Earlier this month, the agency filed a notice of appeal in its multi-year case with the Ripple.

Ripple has given about $50 million to the pro-crypto super PAC Fairshake, which has been contributing to candidates up and down the ballot, and on both sides of the aisle.

Crypto companies outspend Big Oil and banks in 2024 elections

Harris has been gaining momentum within the crypto community.

Two days after Biden dropped out of the race, Marvin Ammori, legal chief at decentralized exchanged Uniswap, gave money to the Harris Action Fund. Uniswap is also battling claims it violated U.S. securities laws.

Skybridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci, who spent 11 days as White House communications director under Trump, has given more than $36,000 to two PACs supporting the Democratic nominee. Scaramucci says he’s among a group of crypto advocates working with Harris to develop her campaign’s policies on digital assets and to help the vice president distance the Democrats from Sen. Warren.

And then there’s venture capitalist Ben Horowitz, who maintains a sizable portfolio of crypto companies. The Andreessen Horowitz co-founder and his partner Marc Andreessen said in July they were planning to make significant donations to PACs supporting Trump’s run for president due to what they characterized as his friendliness to the “little tech agenda.”

That was when Biden was the nominee. By early October, Horowitz appeared to have had a change of heart. He told employees at his firm that he would be making a “significant” personal contribution to Harris’ election bid. Horowitz said that he and his wife, Felicia, “have known Vice President Harris for over 10 years and she has been a great friend to both of us during that time.”

A couple weeks earlier, in late September, Harris finally gave a nod to cryptocurrency in a public address.

“We will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting our consumers and investors,” she said at a $27 million fundraiser in New York.

On Monday, the Harris campaign unveiled its “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” in a report. The plan explicitly mentions creating a framework for cryptocurrency in the U.S. designed to safeguard those assets. The campaign said more than 20% of Black Americans own or have owned digital currencies.

Despite Larsen’s track record of donating to Democrats, he took heat on social media after his latest contribution was reported on CNBC on Friday.

“The Ripple community and even the crypto community in general has a lot of skepticism toward Kamala’s candidacy and what policies she would put into place,” Delmore said, reflecting much of the online sentiment

Larsen blew off the criticism, and said he doesn’t pay attention to social media.

WATCH: Trump launches new crypto venture

Trump family unveils new details of their DeFi crypto platform 'World Liberty Financial'

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Podcast: GMC Sierra EV Denali first drive, Hyundai Ioniq 9 unveiling, Jaguar rebranding, and more

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Podcast: GMC Sierra EV Denali first drive, Hyundai Ioniq 9 unveiling, Jaguar rebranding, and more

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss our GMC Sierra EV Denali first drive, Hyundai Ioniq 9 unveiling, Jaguar’s rebranding, and more.

Sponsored by ALSET Auto: North America’s leader in paint protection and restyling; offering colored wraps, paint protection, window tint, ceramic coatings and more, exclusively on EVs.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET):

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The electric Chrysler Pacifica is finally coming, but not soon enough

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The electric Chrysler Pacifica is finally coming, but not soon enough

It’s official: Chrysler will finally launch an electric Pacifica minivan. The company is developing clever storage ideas that could make it even more functional than Volkswagen’s recently introduced ID.Buzz. But you’ll have to wait a little longer to get your hands on one.

Chrysler confirms plans to launch an electric Pacifica

Chrysler has yet to release its first fully electric vehicle. Although the nearly 100-year-old automaker has teased several EV concepts, we have yet to see one come to fruition. That will change soon.

Earlier this year, the company revealed its Halcyon Concept, a futuristic sports car-like EV drastically different from Chrysler vehicles currently on the road. The model builds on previous concepts, like the Airflow crossover introduced in 2022.

Chrysler’s CEO, Christine Feuell, said the Halycon would be brought to life with advanced new tech from parent company Stellantis, sleek new styling, and a software-defined connected cockpit.

The radical design will be used in future Chrysler vehicles, including the electric Pacifica. At the LA Auto Show this week, Feuell confirmed to GreenCarReports that the Pacifica is due for an overhaul in 2026. The refresh will lay the groundwork for the first electric Pacifica, which is expected to launch the following year.

electric-Chrysler-Pacifica
Chrysler electric Halcyon Concept (Source: Stellantis)

Chrysler’s CEO hinted the upcoming Pacifica EV could challenge Volkswagen’s ID.Buzz, the first electric minivan to arrive in the US.

While you’ll need to remove the seats for that open-air space in the ID.Buzz, Chrysler is working on more functional solutions. According to Feuell, the company is developing a system like its patented Stow ‘N Go Seating to open up space in the rear.

electric-Chrysler-Pacifica-interior
2025 Chrysler Pacifica PHEV interior (Source: Stellantis)

Although nothing is set in stone, one option is adjustable front seats, enabling the second row to be stored underneath.

Electrek’s Take

As Chrysler’s only production model in 2024, it only makes sense to launch an electric Pacifica. The Pacifica hybrid was the fourth best-selling plug-in hybrid in the US in Q3. It also accounted for 14% (3,009) of the 21,504 Pacifica models sold last quarter.

Meanwhile, the company is quickly losing market share in the US. Pacifica sales crashed 44% in Q3 and are down 18% through September.

Several new larger electric SUVs, like the Kia EV9, are already hitting the market, and more are on the way, including the recently unveiled Hyundai IONIQ 9. With the electric Pacifica not due out until 2027 (at the earliest), Chrysler will likely continue losing ground as new, more advanced competitors roll out.

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Tesla converts Shell gas station into Supercharger and it looks awesome

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Tesla converts Shell gas station into Supercharger and it looks awesome

Tesla has converted an entire Shell gas station into a Supercharger station for electric vehicles in Spain, and it looks fantastic.

One of the favorite arguments of electric vehicle naysayers is that there are not as many charging stations as gas stations – making EVs less convenient.

The argument is flawed since most EVs are charged overnight when parked, and they can be charged literally anywhere there’s an electric outlet, which is not the case with gas-powered vehicles.

Most of the time, charging electric vehicles is more convenient than refueling a gas-powered car, and that’s going to become more widespread as time goes on because there are more charging stations being deployed, and many gas stations are going away.

In some markets where electric vehicles are being adopted at a higher rate, like in Norway, gas stations have been closing left and right.

In some cases, EV charging stations are directly replacing some.

Today, we get to see a beautiful example in Cordoba, Spain, where Tesla took over a Shell gas station and converted it into (hat tip to Aland≡Bru on X):

While it is not completed, it’s particularly interesting to see that Tesla has kept a similar design to the classic gas station setup.

To be fair, this is not exactly a new concept. There’s even a company that specializes in replacing gas stations with EV charging stations.

We have also previously seen gas station operators replacing gas pumps with charging stalls.

Interestingly, even the oil giant Shell, which is seeing its gas station here replaced by a Tesla Supercharger here, is investing in electric vehicle charging through several new efforts.

The only thing missing to this charging station is solar power, which is the best way to charger your electric car, and the best solar is on your home. If you want to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage. EnergySage is a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar – whether you’re a homeowner or renter. They have hundreds of vetted solar installers competing for your business (including Tesla and Powerwall certified installers in some markets), ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20 to 30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online, and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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