Crypto Billionaire Taps Scandal-Tarred Crypto Critic To Meddle in GOP Primaries

The crypto billionaire and Democratic megadonor Chris Larsen is pouring millions into Republican primaries through the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, a PAC devoted to climate activism led by the scandal-plagued former executive director of the Sierra Club, Michael Brune. The two are strange bedfellows: Brune has branded crypto, the industry in which Larsen made a fortune, a "climate catastrophe" that facilitates "money laundering and fraud."

Larsen, Ripple Labs's cofounder, contributed $6 million to the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC. Several solar companies and climate-oriented hedge funds also contribute to the PAC. (Jigar Shah, a former Biden administration energy loan czar who allegedly engaged in "pay-to-play" schemes involving his cronies, has contributed $50,000 to the coalition.) The group tapped Brune to lead the operation after he resigned from Sierra Club in 2021 amid an internal investigation into "abuse and misconduct." That investigation concluded that Brune had tolerated a culture of "anger and aggression" and led to a "Restorative Accountability Process."

Invest in Tomorrow's aim, according to PAC leaders and donors, is to "punish" and "take out" Republicans who oppose tax credits for solar and renewable energy firms. The group spent $2 million against Trump-backed Rep. Andy Ogles (Tenn.) in his primary race and $1 million against Rep. Ralph Norman (S.C.) in his Senate campaign. It also spent roughly $640,000 in the GOP's Texas attorney general primary to attack Rep. Chip Roy (Texas), a longtime opponent of renewable-energy incentives. Ogles, Norman, and Roy lost those primaries.