Summary

  • Saikat Chakrabarti, a founding engineer at Stripe, was defeated in his attempt to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
  • The candidate supporting Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) criticized "tech oligarchs and crypto billionaires" while investing $10 million in his campaign.
  • Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, supported one of Chakrabarti's rivals and contributed to a PAC that opposed him.

Saikat Chakrabarti, a founding engineer of the payment processing firm Stripe, was unsuccessful in his congressional campaign in California, as he garnered fewer votes than his opponent Scott Wiener, who received substantial backing from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.

With half of the votes counted, Democrats Wiener and Connie Chan advanced from a nonpartisan primary, preparing to compete to fill the seat of Nancy Pelosi in California's 11th Congressional District, according to NBC News. Chakrabarti managed to secure only 15% of the votes at this stage.

Chakrabarti, who departed from Stripe in 2013, aimed to disrupt the Democratic establishment, branding himself as a progressive and advocating for a ban on congressional stock trading while criticizing “tech oligarchs and crypto billionaires opposing our agenda.”

The election results illustrate the growing influence of the crypto sector in politics, as candidates often struggle when facing well-funded opponents. Recently, a pro-crypto PAC named Fairshake announced its success as six congressional candidates backed by over $20 million from the crypto industry won their primaries nationwide.

Chakrabarti specifically targeted a PAC named Abundant Future, which was established late last year and reportedly spent around $65,200 against him, according to Federal Election Commission records show. Larsen was the largest individual contributor to the PAC, donating $100,000.

Larsen, known for his support of moderate Democrats, also contributed $7,000 to Wiener’s campaign. Additionally, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan donated $25,000 to Abundant Future, along with $20,000 from Jeremy Liew, a former Lightspeed Venture Partners executive. Both have heavily invested in blockchain technology and crypto exchanges.

In 2024, Larsen donated $11 million worth of XRP to Future Forward USA, a political action committee aligned with the Democrats, in support of Kamala Harris during her campaign. His contributions received criticism from some in the crypto community who found them perplexing.

Ripple later donated $5 million worth of XRP to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, having established its presence in Washington by supporting Fairshake, which raised nearly $300 million during the election cycle.

Interestingly, Y Combinator supported Stripe during its seed funding round back in 2009. The payment giant, which has embraced stablecoins, achieved a valuation of $159 billion in February following an employee tender offer and stock buyback announcement.

Chakrabarti, who previously served as chief of staff for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), expressed in an April interview with Mission Local that he supports CBDCs, arguing they could facilitate relief for people during crises. Unlike stablecoins, CBDCs are government-issued, leading to concerns about financial surveillance from conservative critics.

According to Politico, Chakrabarti invested nearly $10 million into his own campaign.

Decrypt has reached out to Chakrabarti, Wiener, and Ripple for their comments.