Chris Larsen’s Tiny Angel Bet in a Senator’s Son’s Exchange Is a Regulator Flashpoint

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By: Lucas Caldwell
This isn’t just a throwaway angel investment by a well-known crypto founder. It’s a quiet, high-stakes test of how Washington’s regulatory crosshairs will land on the next wave of U.S. trading infrastructure. The player at the center is Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, who put down a small check in a new derivatives startup run by a senator’s son. The attention around this deal isn’t about the size of Larsen’s investment, but the ripple effects it could have on U.S. crypto and derivatives regulation.
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen joined roughly 35 other angel investors in a $30 million funding round for American Perpetuals Exchange Corp., or APEC. The round was led by venture firm Lux Capital, valuing the pre-launch firm at $300 million as of mid-June. APEC was founded by Theodore Gillibrand, a 22-year-old Stanford graduate and the son of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Other notable backers include hedge fund manager John Griffin, Washington investor Mark Ein, and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey.
Larsen’s individual contribution fell in the $5,000 to $10,000 range, a small sum compared to the overall $30 million round. Even so, his involvement has drawn significant attention because he is a leading voice in the crypto industry, and Ripple has been locked in years of fights with U.S. regulators over its own token offerings.
APEC plans to launch perpetual futures products tied to U.S. equities and equity indices. Perpetual futures have been a staple of offshore crypto trading for years, allowing traders to hold positions without fixed contract expiration dates. But U.S. access to similar equity-linked perpetual futures products remains extremely limited for retail and institutional investors alike.
The political optics of this deal are impossible to overlook. Senator Gillibrand has been deeply involved in congressional talks over crypto market structure legislation and ethics provisions. She has publicly stated she has no involvement in her son’s business, but critics will likely flag the connection as a potential conflict of interest as APEC pursues approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The CFTC’s decision on APEC will set a precedent for how crypto-aligned capital can shape U.S. regulated derivatives markets.
Author bio: Lucas Caldwell, a tech opinion leader with millions of followers on X/Twitter who covers crypto regulation and startup capital flows.