Crypto advocate and litigator John Deaton is making significant headway in his campaign to unseat Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren from her parliamentary seat – particularly in the realm of fundraising.
John Deaton’s Campaign Fundraising
As reported by Eleanor Terret of Fox Business, the attorney-turned-senate contender garnered $1.36 million for his Q1 campaign fundraising, surpassing Warren’s $1.1 million. Terret noted on Friday that Deaton’s campaign has attracted donations from prominent figures in the crypto industry, including Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, as well as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Charles Hoskinson, Jameson Lopp, and Anthony Scaramucci.
According to Politico, donors such as Garlinghouse, Larsen, Scaramucci, and the Winklevoss twins contributed the maximum donation of $6600 to his campaign.
Deaton’s substantial corporate backing aligns with the concerns voiced by Warren, who cautioned her supporters in February about the potential influx of funding from influential special interests, Wall Street, and the GOP upon Deaton’s campaign announcement. “I’m not daunted by this, but it does mean we must prepare to counter funding from powerful entities,” she asserted at the time.
Deaton’s involvement with the crypto industry is well-documented. He gained recognition for representing 75,000 XRP holders in a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which concluded last year predominantly favorably for Ripple.
Additionally, he has criticized the SEC’s treatment of the crypto industry in various high-profile cases, including its dispute with Grayscale, the issuer of the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF. This legal battle ultimately compelled the SEC to permit the trading of Bitcoin spot ETFs, a decision that Elizabeth Warren vehemently opposed.
Is Elizabeth Warren Worried?
Apart from their differing stances on crypto, Warren and Deaton hold staunchly opposing views on a range of partisan issues, including student loan forgiveness, the migrant crisis, and the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy.
“I’ve overcome challenges as an underdog my entire life, and I’m prepared to do it once more. The only distinction this time is that the world will bear witness to it,” Deaton conveyed to X on Friday.
