Stripe millionaire loses bid for Congressional nomination with support from Ripple co-founder

Saikat Chakrabarti, a founding engineer at payment processor Stripe, lost his bid for Congress in California on Tuesday, failing to muster more votes than Scott Weiner, a candidate heavily backed by Ripple co-founder and CEO Chris Larsen.

With 50% of the votes counted, Democrats Weiner and Connie Chan advanced from an all-party race and are set to compete to succeed Nancy Pelosi as representative of California’s 11th Congressional District, per NBC News. At the time of writing, Chakrabarty has received 15% of the votes.

Chakrabarty, who left Stripe in 2013, was intent on shaking up the Democratic establishment, presenting himself as a progressive while calling for a ban on stock trading in Congress and a ban on stock trading in Congress. He calls “Tech oligarchs and crypto billionaires who oppose our agenda.”

The contest results reflect how the cryptocurrency industry has gained increasing power in the political sphere, with candidates failing when confronted by influential supporters. Last month, a pro-crypto political action committee called Fairshake He claimed Victory after six congressional candidates won primaries across the country with more than $20 million in cryptocurrency industry support.

Chakrabarti’s criticism targeted Abundant Future, a political action committee formed late last year, which spent nearly $65,200 opposing him, according to Federal Election Commission filings. displays. The Ripple co-founder contributed $100,000 to the PAC, becoming its largest single backer.

And Larsen, who has a history of supporting moderate Democrats, too Donated $7,000 to Weiner’s official campaign organization. In parallel, Y Combinator CEO Gary Tan donated US$25,000 to Abundant Future along with US$20,000 from Jeremy Liu, formerly of Lightspeed Venture Partners. Both companies have invested heavily in blockchain infrastructure and cryptocurrency exchanges.

In 2024, Larsen Donated A total of $11 million XRP to a Democratic-aligned political action committee called Future Forward USA to support then-Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. As Election Day approached, Larsen’s contributions were criticized by some members of the cryptocurrency industry, who called his support confusing.

ripple later talented $5 million worth of XRP for Trump’s inaugural fund. At that point, the company gained influence on Capitol Hill by supporting Fairshake, a pro-crypto political action committee that… He grew up Nearly $300 million during election season alongside affiliates.

Coincidentally, Y Combinator Supported Stripe during the company’s seed round in 2009. The payments giant, which gold All on stablecoins, it reached $159 billion in February after that unveil Employee tender offer and stock repurchase program.

Chakrabarti, former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), said: Local mission In April he was “impressed” with Central bank digital currenciesHe insisted that technology could make it easier for the United States to provide relief to people in times of crisis. Unlike stablecoins, central bank digital currencies are issued by governments. Claim Financial oversight concerns among conservatives

per POLITICOChakrabarti spent nearly $10 million on his election campaign.

DecryptionWe have reached out to Chakrabarti, Wiener and Ripple for comment.