Self-described as "radically pro-consumer," Chris Larsen has been a vocal advocate of financial privacy in California, and in 2001 he co-founded the coalition Californians for Privacy Now.
26 Facts About Chris Larsen
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Chris Larsen has appeared as a speaker at industry events such as Sibos, SWIFT's flagship conference, and written articles for publications such as American Banker.
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Chris Larsen is a board-member or advisor for organizations such as Credit Karma, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Qifang, and Betable.
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Chris Larsen was born in San Francisco, California, in 1960.
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Chris Larsen's mother worked as a freelance illustrator, while his father worked as an aircraft mechanic for United Airlines at San Francisco International Airport.
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Chris Larsen began working for Chevron after college, doing financial audits in Brazil, Ecuador, and Indonesia.
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Pawlowski was chief executive officer for the first two years, and in 1998 she offered to switch jobs with Chris Larsen, taking Chris Larsen's previous role of President.
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Pawlowski and Chris Larsen were in talks with Intuit over a $130 million buyout in the fall of 1998.
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In 1998 E-Loan had total annual revenues of $6.8 million, and the following year Chris Larsen offered the role of CEO back to Pawlowski, though she elected to remain President.
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Chris Larsen processed $470 million of mortgage loans in the first quarter of 1999, and by the second financial quarter, revenues for the year had reached $4.6 million.
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Chris Larsen has described himself as "radically pro-consumer," and in the early 2000s he became a vocal advocate of financial privacy in California.
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Chris Larsen spearheaded the collection of 600,000 signatures in support of Speier's bill, which was almost double the required amount to issue a ballot to state voters.
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Chris Larsen stepped down as CEO in early 2005 to start Prosper Marketplace and remained chairman until E-Loan was sold to Banco Popular in 2005.
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Chris Larsen himself had funded 450 loans through the website as of 2008, with borrowers as diverse as homeowners, college students, credit-card users, and entrepreneurs.
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Chris Larsen soon ran into regulatory opposition from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as current loan regulations were focused on traditional banks, not technology startups.
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In 2011, Chris Larsen was outwardly supportive of the Occupy Wall Street movement, raising money to help feed protesters at the nearby OWS encampment in San Francisco.
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On March 15,2012, Chris Larsen announced that he would be resigning from his role as CEO, though he remained chairman of the company.
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In September 2012, Chris Larsen co-founded the company OpenCoin, which began developing a new payment protocol called Ripple, based on a concept developed by Ryan Fugger.
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Chris Larsen created its own form of digital currency in a manner similar to Bitcoin, using the currency to allow financial institutions to transfer money with negligible fees and wait-time.
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Chris Larsen has appeared as a speaker or panelist at number of industry events, including the IIF Annual Memberships Meeting in 2014.
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Chris Larsen has written articles on banking systems and other technical topics for publications such as American Banker.
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Chris Larsen was an advisor to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation's policy committee against payday lending.
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In October 2024, Chris Larsen donated $1 million worth of XRP to Future Forward, a super PAC that's supporting Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.
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In total, Chris Larsen has given around $1.9 million to support her campaign directly and through PACs.
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Chris Larsen has made several standout donations, including a $1 million donation to Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro and nearly $7,000 to John Deaton, a Massachusetts Republican rival of Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, a prominent critic of cryptocurrencies.
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Chris Larsen donated $250,000 to Nancy Pelosi's Victory Fund in 2022 and backed a pro-Biden PAC in 2020.