Crypto lawyer John Deaton runs for U.S. Senate against Elizabeth Warren

Pro-crypto lawyer John Deaton officially made his bid for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts to face off against Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the fall. 

Deaton announced his Republican Senate run on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday morning. He has been a proponent for crypto and is behind the website CryptoLaw which regularly posts about crypto legal and regulatory developments. Deaton has also dabbled in crypto lawsuits, such as filing a petition in 2021 challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission's claim that XRP is a security.

Deaton has frequently criticized both Senator Warren and SEC Chair Gary Gensler for their handling of the crypto industry. CryptoLaw tweeted last week that Gensler has been "proven wrong on the law over and over, now he’s basically waging some kind of propaganda war against an industry because he can’t win in court to get crypto under his regulatory thumb." 

"Having overcome so much, John believes it is time we elect someone to the U.S. Senate who understands the struggles of everyday Americans," his website reads. "He has served his country as a Marine, served asbestos victims and cryptocurrency holders as an attorney, and now hopes to serve the people of Massachusetts as their U.S. Senator."

In order to take on Warren in the general election, Deaton will first have to secure the GOP nomination, where at least four candidates have already announced their intentions to take on Warren. Massachusetts Republicans and Democrats will hold their U.S. Senate primaries on Sept. 3. 

Deaton's opponent

Sen. Warren, seeking her fourth term as a U.S. Senator, sits on both the Senate Finance Committee and the Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs. She has been critical of crypto and has recently been pushing her anti-money laundering bill, which would extend Bank Secrecy Act requirements, including know-your-customer rules, to miners, validators and wallet providers. 

"It’s time for crypto to follow the same anti-money laundering rules as everyone else. I’ve got a bill to make it happen," Warren posted on X last month.

The bill has been met with pushback from some in the crypto industry who say it is unconstitutional and too wide-reaching. 

Deaton criticized Warren in his promotional video on Tuesday and on his website. 

"Washington, D.C. is broken, and in more than a decade in office Elizabeth Warren has done nothing to fix it – in fact, she’s become a big part of the problem," Deaton said. 

Deaton and Warren did not respond to a request for comment.