Chris Larsen is the Ripple co-founder who ran the company as CEO until the end of 2016, and none of the 35 press releases Ripple's press center lists from January to mid-October 2026 names him. Ripple's leadership page still lists him as executive chairman, the first name on its Board of Directors.
That absence covers Ripple's press releases and nothing more. Brad Garlinghouse has been Ripple's CEO since January 2017 and isn't named in any of them either. Ripple's president Monica Long is quoted in at least four. The company's 2026 releases speak through the people who run its businesses, which fits the board role Ripple described when it announced Larsen's handover of the CEO job in November 2016.
Chris Larsen at a Glance
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Item
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Details
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Role at Ripple
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Listed as executive chairman and co-founder
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Co-founded Ripple
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2012
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Earlier companies
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E-Loan (1996) and Prosper Marketplace (2006)
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Ripple CEO
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Until the end of 2016
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SEC case
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Named a defendant in December 2020, resolved August 2025
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Named in Ripple's 2026 releases
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0 of 35, January to mid-October
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On Phemex
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XRP/USDT perpetual and spot pair
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Who Is Chris Larsen?
Chris Larsen is a "serial fintech entrepreneur," in the words of Ripple's own November 2016 release, and Ripple is the third of the companies it says he co-founded. As its CEO he set out the vision of an "Internet of Value" in which money moves the way information moves on the web.
That phrase still heads Ripple's company page in mid-October 2026. The page pitches crypto products to banks and businesses, and its product menu runs from payments and custody to a stablecoin and prime brokerage.
A stablecoin is a token pegged to a currency such as the US dollar, and Phemex Academy explains what stablecoins are and how they trade.
Chris Larsen's Career: From E-Loan and Prosper to Ripple
Ripple's November 2016 release lays out Larsen's career in three companies. He co-founded E-Loan in 1996, which the release calls one of the first online mortgage lending platforms, and its market value reached $1 billion by 2000.
In 2006 he co-founded Prosper Marketplace, which the same release describes as the first peer-to-peer lending marketplace in the US.
He co-founded Ripple in 2012 and had been both its CEO and its board chairman ever since, the release says. By the time of that release, Ripple had raised more than $93 million over three funding rounds and employed 135 people in five offices.
In mid-October 2026 Ripple's company page counts more than 1,000 employees in over 15 offices. By headcount, the Ripple that lists Larsen as executive chairman is more than seven times the company he stopped running.
Ripple's founding years also run through Phemex Academy's profile of how Jed McCaleb shaped Ripple and Stellar.
Is Chris Larsen Still With Ripple?
Yes, by title. Ripple's leadership page lists Chris Larsen as Executive Chairman and Co-Founder at the top of its Board of Directors, and he doesn't appear in the page's list of executives, which opens with Garlinghouse as CEO and Long as president.
Ripple's press center lists 35 press releases from January to mid-October 2026. Not one of them names Larsen. Garlinghouse isn't named in any of them either. The quotes come from the people running Ripple's businesses. Long speaks in at least four, and executives from units such as Ripple Prime and Ripple Treasury speak in others.
That's an absence from Ripple's 2026 press releases, and the count covers nothing beyond them. Interviews, conference stages and Larsen's own social posts are separate channels, and the release count says nothing about them.
A board chair who leaves the announcements to the operating team is doing the job Ripple described for him in 2016.
What Does Ripple's Executive Chairman Do?
Ripple's November 2016 release says that as executive chairman Larsen "will be responsible for leading the board of directors, strategic oversight of the business and identifying strategic partnership opportunities."
Larsen said he looked forward to "taking a break from the day-to-day while staying highly involved in Ripple's strategic direction." Garlinghouse said in the same release that he would keep working "with Chris and the board to set the strategic direction of the company."
The partnership part of the role points at the market Ripple served in 2016, cross-border payments between banks. Phemex compares the old and new ways of sending that money in TradFi payments vs stablecoin rails for remittances.
What Happened in the SEC Case Against Chris Larsen?
In December 2020 the SEC sued Ripple, Larsen and Garlinghouse, alleging that Ripple raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered securities offering of XRP that began in 2013. The SEC's release described Larsen as co-founder, executive chairman of the board and former CEO.
The complaint also alleged that the two executives "effected personal unregistered sales of XRP totaling approximately $600 million." Those were allegations in the SEC's complaint against both men.
The regulator's 2025 litigation releases give his legal name, Christian A. Larsen. In early May 2025 the SEC filed a settlement agreement with Ripple and both executives that laid out a framework for ending the case.
The SEC said the decision rested on its judgment that settling would help its efforts to "reform and renew its regulatory approach to the crypto industry," and "not on any assessment of the merits of the claims alleged in the action."
In early August 2025 the SEC announced a joint stipulation to dismiss the appeals, which it said resolved its civil enforcement action against Ripple and both executives. It added that the district court's final judgment against Ripple, with its civil penalty and injunction, would remain in effect.
Phemex Academy's XRP lawsuit timeline tracks the case step by step, from the 2020 filing to the 2025 ending.
The SEC's own words tie the settlement to a change in how it approaches crypto, and Phemex Academy's introduction to the development of crypto regulation covers how those rules took shape.
Who Is the CEO of Ripple?
Brad Garlinghouse is the CEO of Ripple, the title its leadership page gives him in mid-October 2026, and he took over from Larsen in January 2017. He'd spent more than a year and a half as Ripple's president and chief operating officer before the handover, according to the 2016 release.
Garlinghouse is also one of the seven names on Ripple's Board of Directors, the list that opens with Larsen as executive chairman. Long holds the president's title Garlinghouse once had. So Garlinghouse runs the company day to day, and Ripple's page puts Larsen at the head of the board he answers to.
How to Trade XRP on Phemex
XRP is the token at the center of the SEC's case against Ripple and its two executives, and Phemex lists it on both its futures and spot markets. The XRP/USDT perpetual closed mid-October 2026 at 1.303 USDT, down 0.25% on the day.
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Open a Phemex account and fund it with USDT.
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For spot, pick the XRP/USDT pair and buy XRP outright.
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For futures, open the XRP/USDT perpetual and choose your leverage, up to 50x.
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Set a stop-loss before you place the order, and note that the perpetual settles funding every eight hours.
Futures use leverage, and a leveraged position is closed automatically if losses reach its margin. Phemex also lists an XRP/USDC perpetual and an XRP/USDC spot pair for traders who hold USDC.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Chris Larsen in XRP?
Chris Larsen co-founded Ripple, the company the SEC's complaint said had sold XRP to fund its business from 2013. He was a defendant in that case until the SEC's August 2025 stipulation resolved it, and Ripple's leadership page lists him as executive chairman.
When did Chris Larsen stop being Ripple's CEO?
Larsen stepped down as Ripple's CEO at the end of 2016. Ripple announced in November 2016 that Larsen would move from CEO to executive chairman of the board, and Brad Garlinghouse became CEO from the first day of 2017.
What companies did Chris Larsen co-found?
Ripple's November 2016 release names three companies he co-founded. They are E-Loan in 1996, Prosper Marketplace in 2006 and Ripple in 2012.
Who is Ripple's chairman?
Ripple's leadership page lists co-founder Chris Larsen as executive chairman, the first name on its seven-member Board of Directors. He was board chairman from Ripple's founding in 2012, the 2016 release says, and took the executive chairman title when Garlinghouse became CEO.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Cryptocurrency trading involves substantial risk. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.
