Ripple parks $25 million in super PAC, CEO vows to commit more
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Payments giant Ripple announced this morning that it donated $25 million in Fairshake and its affiliated political action committees.
Why it matters: CEO Brad Garlinghouse tells Axios the donation was made with an eye on moving the crypto sentiment needle back to somewhere near neutral, or better.
Zoom in: "This isn't a one-time thing," Garlinghouse says, vowing to give Fairshake $25 million annually, as long as there are crypto naysayers slandering the industry.
Behind the scenes: Large, profitable crypto companies have been throwing their weight around, driving crypto-friendly legislation and candidates that support them, to the fore.
- Garlinghouse says it's pushing back, doing "what has become necessary to combat the megaphone that is Elizabeth Warren and to some degree, Gary Gensler."
What we're watching: Garlinghouse speaks highly of Fairshake, saying that "the smartest thing" it did was become a single-issue PAC.
- "In some of the primaries, [Fairshake] had an impact, because this is an issue that people are passionate about," he says.
By the numbers: Following Ripple's donation Fairshake's warchest is now at more than $110 million, according to the spokesperson for the PAC.
- Coinbase and Kraken, as well as venture capital shops like Andreessen Horowitz and Jump Crypto have also thrown in.
The big picture: The momentum behind crypto in D.C. is building.
- Garlinghouse says Ripple wired the money to Fairshake before last week's surprising vote that pushed a broad crypto bill — FIT21 — through the House, with strong democratic support.
- It was also before former President and likely GOP candidate Donald Trump showed his support for crypto, he added.
What we're watching: When asked whether he would consider voting along crypto lines, Garlinghouse demurred.
- "I haven't decided who I'm going to support at the presidential level," but he said that there will be plenty of people who switch their votes on the crypto issue.
