John Deaton Advises Next SEC Regime to Focus on Pump-and-Dump Fraud

The crypto industry has suffered notable losses in scams and fraud cases over the years. A recent report showed that over $679 million was lost to cryptocurrency scams and fraud cases in the first half of 2024. These dubious practices have raised concerns about the need for consumer protection through regulatory bodies.

John Deaton, a pro-XRP lawyer recently jumped on a podcast to address these growing issues, giving pointers to the next SEC head, and advising the agency to take consumer protection seriously.

Deaton Advises Focus on Consumer Protection

XRPP Productions, a prominent account on crypto X, hosted a podcast that attracted almost 3,000 listeners globally. On the show, Deaton discussed the future of the SEC under a new chairman, his election campaign, and cryptocurrency in the United States.

Recall that a rumor has been swelling about the potential resignation of Gary Gensler, the current SEC chairman, after his closing remarks at a regulatory conference last week. In his speech, he referred to his time at the SEC as an “honor,” while commending his staff who worked with him over the years.

While this is also a standard way to close a speech, the crypto community has speculated that it is a hint about a possible resignation soon.

In light of this, John Deaton advised the next chairman that strong consumer protection laws should be taken seriously to reduce the growing rate of fraud and scams in the crypto sector. He said,

“I really hope whoever takes over at the SEC really focuses on fraud, pump-and-dump things, and things like that, where consumers really need to be protected.” 

Pump-and-dump is a type of crypto scam where the scammers or developers of the project spread false hope about the project to draw in investors and manipulate the price.

These unsuspecting investors buy the low-value coin leading to a significant surge in the coin’s price, then, the scammers sell off their holdings at the peak, crashing the coin to zero.

This type of scam is prevalent in the memecoin sector and Deaton has advised the next SEC regime to take it seriously.

John Deaton Loses to Elizabeth Warren

In the recently concluded US election cycle, John Deaton was a Republican candidate for a Senatorial seat in Massachusetts. During the primaries, he defeated two opponents, Robert Antonellis and Ian Cain, to secure the number 1 spot.

In his campaign, Deaton advocated for clearer and balanced crypto regulations, a point often echoed by industry experts. He also pushed for laws that support innovation and consumer protection.

However, his political ambition was cut short after he lost the race to Senator Elizabeth Warren who continued her third term.

Senator Warren argued in her campaign that a Deaton victory would mean a Republican take-over of the US Senate and would push agendas that are not favorable to the Massachusetts people.