Ripple co-founder and executive chairman Chris Larsen and 87 corporate leaders in the United States co-signed an endorsement for Kamala Harris’ presidential election. Telegram founder Pavel Durov has broken his silence for the first time since being arrested in France in August. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Harris’ campaign told Cointelegraph that the Democratic presidential nominee is able to receive crypto donations through a Super PAC.
Ripple co-founder signs letter endorsing Harris for president
Chris Larsen, co-founder and executive chairman at Ripple, is among multiple signers who have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, according to a CNBC report.
The report cited a letter signed by 88 corporate leaders in the United States and mentioned that other prominent signees included Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of the enterprise cloud company Box, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, Snap chairman Michael Lynton, 21st Century Fox’s former CEO James Murdoch and others.
In August, Gene Sperling, one of United States President Joe Biden’s senior economic advisers and a former Ripple Labs’ board of directors member, announced their departure from the White House to join Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign.
Pavel Durov issues statement on arrest in France
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has issued his first public statement since his high-profile arrest in France on Aug. 24.
The Russian-born billionaire said he was surprised French authorities arrested him, citing the legal representative Telegram has in France who usually handles all regulatory requests and inquiries.
Durov, a French citizen, also said the French authorities had multiple ways to reach him without resorting to custody and claimed he was a regular guest at the French Consulate in Dubai.
The Telegram founder said his company is fully prepared to leave jurisdictions that are hostile to Telegram’s purported mission of free speech and free expression.
The 39-year-old was indicted on Aug. 28 in Paris on multiple charges including spreading illegal content, drug trafficking, and failure to comply with law enforcement. He was ordered to front up $5.5 million in bail and put under court monitoring. He is not permitted to leave France.
Harris’ campaign receiving crypto donations through Super PAC
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is able to receive crypto donations through the Future Forward Super Political Action Committee (PAC), a campaign spokesperson confirmed on Sept. 5.
The confirmation clarified recent comments from Coinbase’s chief financial officer, Alesia Haas, who said the Harris campaign was “using Coinbase Commerce now to accept crypto.” Haas’ comments led to inaccurate reports that the Harris campaign was directly accepting crypto contributions.
According to Open Secrets, Future Forward has raised more than $163 million for Harris’ presidential campaign. The Supre PAC spent $150 million to elect Joe Biden in 2020.
Crypto-focused political action committees are attempting to influence the 2024 presidential elections. Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, said the crypto exchange is a top donor of the crypto-funded Fairshake PAC. Grewal clarified that the crypto exchange was more focused on House races rather than the presidential election.
