Chris Larsen

Chris Larsen is an American entrepreneur and businessman who is best known as one of the co-founders of the Stellar blockchain platform. He was born on August 26, 1960, in San Francisco, California, and grew up in the Bay Area.

Larsen began his career in finance, working for various companies in the industry before co-founding E-Loan in 1996, an online lending platform that was one of the first of its kind. He later founded Prosper Marketplace, another peer-to-peer lending platform, in 2005.

In 2012, Larsen co-founded Ripple, a payment protocol and cryptocurrency that was designed to facilitate fast and low-cost cross-border payments. He served as the CEO of Ripple until 2016, when he stepped down to focus on other projects.

Larsen went on to co-found the Stellar Development Foundation with Jed McCaleb in 2014. The platform was created with the aim of facilitating fast and low-cost cross-border payments, with a particular focus on financial inclusion and social impact.

In addition to his work in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, Larsen has also been involved in various philanthropic initiatives. He was a co-founder of the Rippleworks Foundation, which provides support to social ventures around the world, and has been a vocal advocate for environmental causes.

Larsen is known for his entrepreneurial spirit and his focus on creating platforms that can have a positive social impact. He has been recognized as one of the most influential people in the cryptocurrency industry and continues to be a key figure in the development of new blockchain projects.