John Deaton senate
John Deaton is looking to dethrone Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren from the seat she has held for 11 years. John Deaton campaign website/screenshot

KEY POINTS

  • Deaton said he put $500K of his own money into the campaign and urged voters to help fund the rest
  • The lawyer said he believes he can win over Warren and unseat the 11-year-tenured senator
  • He previously accused Warren of failing to address the concerns of XRP holders in Massachusetts

Pro-digital asset lawyer John Deaton has called on voters to help him achieve his $1 million campaign fund goal by the end of the month, saying donations can be delivered through cash or crypto, "because freedom is on the line."

In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) over the weekend, the Republican senatorial candidate said he would "self-fund" if he could, but he needs the help of the American people. "Let's send a message to Washington elites, the people are coming for @ewarren's Senate seat. I promise, I will fight for you," he wrote along with the video.

In the video, Deaton said he put $500,000 of his own money into the campaign and believes he can win Massachusetts. "Some people mistakenly believe that Elizabeth Warren cannot be beaten in Massachusetts, and it's simply not true," he said.

As of Sunday, several X users said they have donated to Deaton's campaign, including Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of the Cardano blockchain platform, who said he donated "the maximum amount allowed" to help fuel Deaton's senatorial bid.

One user, who said he was a registered Democratic voter, donated to Deaton, saying that Warren had been "trying to kill digital assets in America" and the crypto lawyer's fight toward claiming Warren's seat is a battle for the American digital asset users' financial future.

In 2021, around three months after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued payment protocol Ripple, Deaton filed a motion to intervene on behalf of thousands of holders of XRP, the native cryptocurrency of Ripple.

He said in the filing that more than 6,000 XRP holders reached out to him, "requesting that their individual and collective voices be heard." He said the interests of XRP holders in the SEC's case against Ripple were not adequately represented, as the crypto firm said that "holders of XRP cannot objectively rely on Ripple's efforts."

Deaton launched his senatorial bid last month. He also launched a website calling on the American voting community to "shake up Washington" and donate to his campaign "to retire Elizabeth Warren," the Democratic Party's Massachusetts senator who has held the seat for 11 years.

In December, Deaton accused Warren of failing in her oversight duties of the SEC over the collapsed crypto exchange FTX and alleged that Warren has not intervened in SEC-related concerns of more than 600 XRP holders in her state.

Warren has been a vocal critic of cryptocurrencies. She described the SEC's historic approval of 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January as a "wrong" decision.

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