Pro-crypto lawyer mentioned the SEC’s unfair enforcement actions have set retail investors back by $15 billion and promised to take action against the agency’s personnel should he become a senator.
John Deaton, a pro-crypto attorney and Senate candidate, believes the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cost retail crypto investors $15 billion due to its overindulgent enforcement actions. The SEC regularly observes crypto industry figures and participants complaining about its anti-crypto stance, as it takes the enforcement approach instead of clarifying the rules around the asset class.
Deaton’s X post read, “The SEC’s misconduct and gross overreach caused small investors over $15 billion dollars.” He continued, “On behalf of those 75K small investors I represented, we do not accept the SEC’s apology.”
The regulator has gone after numerous crypto businesses with the assumption that cryptocurrencies are securities. However, firms like Binance and Kraken have recently stepped up to deny that the assets the SEC feels are securities are not. Deaton had also pointed out the same in a Writ of Mandamus filing he brought against the regulator in 2021.
Source: John Deaton on X
The SEC Backtracks on Its Claims of Crypto Assets Being Securities
Deaton’s post comes after the SEC’s ‘apology’ in a court filing related to its lawsuit against Binance in which it claimed that it does not refer to cryptocurrencies as securities but rather how they are offered. However, many have voiced that the agency has, in fact, called crypto assets as securities—for instance, the securities violation case against Ripple.
“People must be held accountable at the SEC,” Deaton, who has also advocated strongly for Ripple, added. He also mentioned that since Senator Elizabeth Warren would not act on it and has not previously, he will address it. He won the Massachusetts primary elections not too long ago. The Republican candidate will go against Democrat Senator Warren to take her place.
Source: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/senate-candidate-and-attorney-john-deaton-states-secs-actions-cost-retail-crypto-investors-15-billion/