In brief
- Stripe founding engineer and progressive Saikat Chakrabarti was eliminated from the contest to succeed Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
- The pro-CBDC candidate railed against “tech oligarchs and crypto billionaires” while allocating $10 million to his own bid.
- Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen backed one of Chakrabarti’s opponents, while fueling a PAC that spent against him.
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 Wiener, a candidate significantly backed by Ripple co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen.
With 50% of votes tallied, Democrats Wiener and Connie Chan advanced from an all-party race and were set to square off to succeed Nancy Pelosi as representative for California’s 11th Congressional District, per NBC News. As of writing, Chakrabarti had received 15% of votes.
Chakrabarti, who left Stripe in 2013, was bent on shaking up the Democratic establishment, positioning himself as a progressive while advocating for a ban on congressional stock trading and calling out “tech oligarchs and crypto billionaires who oppose our agenda.”
The contest’s results reflect how the crypto industry has wielded increasing power in the political realm, with candidates falling short when influential backers are pitted against them. Last month, a pro-crypto PAC called Fairshake claimed victory after six congressional candidates won primaries across the country with over $20 million in crypto industry support.
Chakrabarti’s criticism was targeted at Abundant Future, a PAC formed late last year, which spent roughly $65,200 in opposition to him, Federal Election Commission filings show. The Ripple co-founder contributed $100,000 to the PAC then, becoming its largest individual backer.
Larsen, who has a history of supporting moderate Democrats, also donated $7,000 to Wiener’s official campaign organization. In parallel, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan donated $25,000 to Abundant Future alongside $20,000 from Jeremy Liew, formerly of Lightspeed Venture Partners. Both firms have invested heavily in blockchain infrastructure and crypto exchanges.
In 2024, Larsen donated a total of $11 million worth of $XRP to a Democrat-aligned political action committee called Future Forward USA in support of then-Vice President and presidential nominee Kamala Harris. As Election Day drew close, Larsen’s contributions were lambasted by some members of the crypto industry, who described his backing as baffling.
Ripple later gifted $5 million worth of $XRP to Trump’s inaugural fund. At that point, the firm had gained influence on Capitol Hill by backing Fairshake, a pro-crypto PAC that raised nearly $300 million during the election season alongside affiliates.
Coincidentally, Y Combinator backed Stripe during the company’s seed round in 2009. The payments giant, which has gone all-in on stablecoins, reached a $159 billion valuation in February after unveiling an employee tender offer and stock buyback program.
Chakrabarti, a former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), told Mission Local in April that he’s a “fan” of central bank digital currencies, insisting that the technology could make it easier for the U.S. to offer people relief in times of crisis. Unlike stablecoins, CBDCs are issued by governments, prompting financial surveillance concerns among conservatives.
Per Politico, Chakrabarti spent nearly $10 million on his own campaign.
Decrypt has reached out to Chakrabarti, Wiener, and Ripple for comment.