Ripple backs crypto super PAC with a second donation of $25M

Ripple has now donated more than $45 million to crypto super PACs since December 2023, FEC filings show

article-image

PixelChoice/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

share

Ripple has donated $25 million to crypto-focused super political action committee (PAC) Fairshake.

The sum follows a $20 million donation Ripple made to Fairshake in December 2023. 

Crypto exchange Coinbase was Fairshake’s largest contributor in 2023, donating a total of $46.5 million under the company’s name, according to Federal Election Commission filings. 

“Our contributions to Fairshake are just one of the many ways Ripple will actively invest in educating voters on the role crypto will play in the future and the dangers of the anti-crypto stance some policymakers are clinging to in Washington,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a statement Wednesday. 

Read more: Crypto PAC-backed candidates sweep in US election primaries 

Ripple in 2023 also donated $1.5 million to both of Fairshake’s associated super PACs, Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, FEC filings show. 

Between January 2023 and April 2024, Fairshake spent more than $11 million on federal election campaigns, most notably shelling out $10 million to oppose California Democrat Katie Porter’s bid for a US Senate seat. Porter lost in the March primary to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-CA, who will face Republican Steve Garvey in November. 

Protect Progress spent around $1.7 million between the end of January and the end of February supporting newcomer Shomari Figures, who successfully advanced through the primaries and is running for a US House seat in Alabama’s second district. 

Read more: Coinbase, a16z boost super PAC donations as US Senate races intensify

Fairshake has also supported Congressional crypto advocates, including Reps. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D. 

Ripple’s latest donation announcement comes as the crypto industry continues its attempts to increase its influence in Washington. 

Earlier this month, Coinbase-initiated nonprofit Stand With Crypto launched its own PAC. Stand With Crypto has not yet published contribution or distribution filings with the FEC, but as an associated PAC, only individual Stand With Crypto members can contribute up to $5,000 each. 

“Ripple will not — and the crypto industry should not — keep quiet while unelected regulators actively seek to impede innovation and economic growth that millions of Americans utilize,” Garlinghouse added. “The crypto industry intends to remain heavily invested in this effort until we see meaningful change.”


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the On the Margin newsletter.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Salt Lake City, UT

MON - TUES, OCT. 7 - 8, 2024

Blockworks and Bankless in collaboration with buidlbox are excited to announce the second installment of the Permissionless Hackathon – taking place October 7-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ve partnered with buidlbox to bring together the brightest minds in crypto for […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

Polygon Call Template (2).png

Research

A significant portion of the call was dedicated to discussing the proposed ZK-PoS Phase 1, which aims to connect Polygon PoS to the AggLayer using a ZK proof of consensus, in addition to a pessimistic proof. This upgrade is intended to generalize how chains settle while protecting chain health and asset integrity. The implementation will involve deploying new contracts for the LxLy unified bridge for token mapping and migrating existing tokens from the PoS portal to the new deployment.

article-image

It may be counterintuitive that a high amount of focus on a technology would lead to security risks — but it’s true

article-image

Structured products are common in traditional finance, but onchain options are scant

article-image

Plus, an update on the ether ETF front and an overview of this week’s economic calendar

article-image

Plus, Solana fell roughly 12% on the week, and for some memecoins the drawdown was even more aggressive

article-image

Mark Wong is currently seeing some profit-taking from early bitcoin adopters, but he also sees buying interest from institutions

article-image

Bitcoin has been in a bull market for 19 months. If March wasn’t the top, that is.