(SeaPRwire) – Chris Larsen’s $22.5 million midterm spending tells you more about the state of American politics than any poll. The Ripple chairman is not just writing checks. He is buying influence across two parties, betting on renewable energy, AI safety, and crypto-friendly candidates. The money flow reveals a simple truth: the modern political machine runs on donor loyalty, not voter loyalty.
Federal records show Larsen gave $57,800 to Abdul for the Michigan Victory Fund and $18,500 to the Ohio Grassroots Victory Fund on September 30. These committees support Democratic candidates, including Senate hopefuls Abdul El-Sayed and Sherrod Brown. He also gave $6 million to Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, a group backing renewable energy incentives, and $4.5 million to You Can Push Back, an AI safety group. The money went to issue-based committees as much as to candidates.
Ripple, the payments company Larsen co-founded, has contributed about $49.6 million this election cycle. About $48.5 million went to Fairshake, a super PAC funded by cryptocurrency businesses. Fairshake transferred $139 million to affiliated groups. Defend American Jobs, which backs Republicans, received $106 million. Protect Progress, which supports Democrats, received $33 million. That split shows the crypto industry playing both sides, but leaning heavily toward the GOP side of the ledger.
The disconnect is glaring in Ohio. Fairshake announced a $30 million effort opposing Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown after the CLARITY Act stalled. Larsen responded by backing Brown with $4 million. “It was a really poor decision,” he said of Fairshake’s move. The CLARITY Act sought federal rules for digital assets. It stalled. So the industry’s biggest super PAC spent millions against a senator it could have worked with. Meanwhile, Ripple and Robinhood plan an RLUSD stablecoin launch for retail customers before year-end, separate from the political spending. The message is clear: corporate policy goals and campaign cash rarely align with stated public interests.
The bigger picture is a party apparatus increasingly controlled by a small donor class. The 50 largest midterm donors have given about $2.77 billion. $1.67 billion went to Republican-leaning causes and $832 million to Democratic-leaning causes. Crypto-linked donors alone have contributed more than $176 million. That money does not buy elections, but it buys access. Larsen’s $22.5 million is a warning: the real primary happens in the fundraising circuit, not at the ballot box.