Elizabeth Warren Zeroes In on John Deaton’s Crypto Link in Second Bout

• Elizabeth Warren has received over $19 million from donors, including Harvard University, Apple, and Amazon.
• John Deaton has received just over $1 million in funding from donors, which include Ripple (XRP) and the Winklevoss Twins.
• Deaton has self-funded 50% of his campaign funds. Warren has self-funded 0%.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and pro-crypto Republican John Deaton had a second heated Massachusetts senate debate on Oct. 17, and Deaton’s allegiance to crypto was once again called into question.

Vested Interest

In the first debate, Warren attempted to guard against Deaton’s attacks on her anti-crypto stance by bringing up Deaton’s vested interest in the crypto industry. She doubled down for round two.

On the topic of Deaton and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Warren pulled somewhat of an Uno-reverse card and sought to take the high ground.

“There’s a reason Mr. Deaton is very focused on the SEC. It’s the only agency with a bit of leverage in regulating crypto.”

Warren asserts that the crypto industry and its billionaires are being held accountable for touting “wild claims about investments.” She adds that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has been pushing back and giving crypto the regulations it needs.

She then called into question the crypto donors, sponsors, and backers who, much like private interest and lobbyists in Wall Street, are fueling Deaton’s campaign, stating:

“But when you’ve got a guy who follows the ‘80-90-100 rule’—80% of his value in crypto, 90% of his funding from crypto, and 100% of his loyalty to crypto—it’s clear we won’t have someone who’s going to support the SEC in doing its job.”

But that doesn’t sit well with Deaton, who contests that he sued the U.S. government over crypto (Ripple) because they “hurt small-time investors.” According to him, it wasn’t the billionaires who locked arms with him but the “75,000 individual token holders” who had just a few thousand worth.

“We sued the SEC, and I argued that the XRP token was legal. The SEC disagreed, but Judge Analisa Torres, appointed by Barack Obama, agreed with me.”

As he did in the first debate, he continues to explain that even Vice President Kamala Harris has been the beneficiary of “over a million XRP tokens” donated to her campaign. “By a crypto billionaire who supports me,” he adds.

So, I ask: What do the crypto people expect from Vice President Harris that they don’t expect from me?”

Warren maintains her attack line, claiming once again that Deaton wants to protect crypto in the interest of those funding his campaign. Warren again states that the crypto industry accounts for 90% of his campaign funds and reminds viewers that they’ll be expecting a “big return” on their investment if Deaton wins.

Who Funds Warren?

According to data on OpenSecrets, a site that “follows the money” in politics, Elizabeth Warren has received most of her funding  from Big Tech and major U.S. universities since 2019.

In no particular order, some standout donors for 2024 include Harvard University, Alphabet Inc. (Google), Apple, and Amazon. So Far, Warren has raised $19.8 million  and somehow spent $25.4 million with zero self-financing.

On the other hand, Deaton’s standout donors  include Ripple, Coinbase, Winklevoss Capital Management, and Skybridge Capital, all notable names within crypto. Despite these “crypto-billionaires” backing him, Deaton has raised just $2.04 million and spent $1.2 million.

Of that figure, Deaton self-financed $1.01 million, or 49.31% of his own campaign.

In politics, major donations rarely come in the form of “goodwill”, and so there is a sense of irony to Warren’s attack on Deaton’s crypto backers. Surely, her humble donors have a vested interest in her success.