Ripple
US crypto-payments company behind the XRP token and a leading Fairshake Super PAC funder.
Ripple's political money is at work in Ohio: Defend American Jobs, part of the Fairshake network Ripple helps fund, reported $11.46m of Senate spending in The Week to 30 September 2026.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026
Did Ripple time its $23m donation to influence the CLARITY Act markup?
Timeline for Ripple
Mentioned in: Ohio Senate race draws $44.1m in a week
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: Trump Family Ethics Clause Stalls Crypto Bill
US Midterms 2026Background
Ripple is a US crypto-payments company closely tied to the XRP token, which it uses for cross-border settlement. Its business depends on how Washington classifies digital tokens, and that question has shaped the company for years.
The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple in 2020 over its sales of XRP. A final judgment in August 2024 imposed a civil penalty of about $125m, ending the main phase of the case but leaving the industry without a statute that settles the rules.
That gap explains Ripple's role as one of the largest funders of Fairshake, the crypto industry's main Super PAC, which backs candidates in both parties who favour a federal market-structure law. Its money reaches races through Fairshake's affiliated groups rather than under Ripple's own name.
Ripple's donations reach Ohio's Senate race
Ripple does not run adverts in its own name. Its money goes to Fairshake, the crypto Super PAC, which by April 2026 counted Ripple among its contributors. In November 2024 the company announced a further $25m for Fairshake aimed at the 2026 cycle.
That money shows up through affiliates. Between 24 and 30 September, Defend American Jobs, a group the Washington Times links to Fairshake, led all outside spenders in Ohio's Senate race with $11.46m, split between backing Jon Husted and attacking Sherrod Brown. Its adverts say nothing about crypto, so a voter in Ohio cannot see that a payments company's donations help pay for them.
Ripple wants a federal rulebook
Ripple funds Fairshake to win the CLARITY Act. A market-structure law would settle which regulator oversees tokens such as XRP, the question at the heart of the company's years-long fight with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The bill stalled on 10 April 2026, when Democrats in the Senate wrote in a conflict-of-interest rule, aimed at the Trump family's crypto ventures, that would stop office-holders and relatives cashing in on digital assets. Senate Banking Committee markup slipped to late April against a May floor Deadline, and missing it would push the law Ripple has paid to secure past the midterms.