Ripple Labs has donated $1 million to the Commonwealth Unity Fund, a new super political action committee (PAC) established by attorney James Murphy.
The donation seeks to unseat anti-crypto Senator Elizabeth Warren and support pro-crypto lawyer John Deaton. Murphy also contributed $50,000 to the PAC on April 15.
Ripple is currently involved in a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the sale of XRP, which the SEC claims is an unregistered security. In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that some of Ripple’s secondary sales of XRP did not violate securities laws due to the blind bid process but determined that direct sales to institutional investors were securities investment contracts.
Ripple also announced a $25 million contribution to the super PAC Fairshake in support of pro-crypto political candidates for the 2024 U.S. elections. This follows a similar $25 million donation made in 2023. Other firms, including Coinbase and a16z crypto, are also supporting Fairshake this year.
John Deaton officially entered the race for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts in February to challenge Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren in the November election. He is one of several candidates running in the Republican primary scheduled for September 3.
Meanwhile, Gemini co-founders and bitcoin billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss each donated $250,000 to the pro-Trump super PAC America PAC on June 21, as noted in a separate filing with the Federal Election Commission on Monday.
Additionally, the Winklevoss twins provided $4.9 million in funding to Fairshake in February and announced last month that they had each donated $1 million worth of bitcoin to Donald Trump’s campaign.
On Monday, former President Donald Trump announced Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his vice-presidential pick. Vance, known for his favorable stance on the crypto industry and criticism of the SEC, holds between $100,000 and $250,000 in bitcoin, according to an October 2023 financial disclosure.
Trump’s odds of winning the U.S. Presidential election surged to 72% on the decentralized prediction market platform Polymarket following a recent failed assassination attempt on the pro-crypto candidate. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s chances are currently at 17%, according to the platform.
