In what has been called a ‘David-and-Goliath’ legal tale, personal injury attorney turned cryptocurrency crusader John Deaton has earned considerable recognition and acclaim for his pivotal role in the SEC vs Ripple Labs saga. Though his background as a lawyer centered on pedestrian personal injury cases, Deaton wound up the champion of over 75,000 XRP token holders spanning 143 countries worldwide.
Initially outraged by what he perceived as prosecutorial overreach and overambition in the SEC’s lawsuit declaring XRP illegal security, Deaton filed a writ of mandamus asking Rhode Island’s US District Court to limit any liability faced by individual XRP holders. While the court declined his precise legal argument, they did authorize Deaton to serve as amicus counsel, allowing him to formally represent the myriad interests of the common XRP investor.
Throughout the lengthy proceedings, Deaton proved an indefatigable and unrestrained advocate, employing novel arguments questioning the SEC’s authority and rationale in targeting Ripple and XRP to begin with. His unconventional but impassioned defense and pointed critiques of regulatory capriciousness ultimately helped sway the court. In a landmark July 2022 ruling, Judge Analisa Torres determined that XRP was not and had never been an illegal security under SEC guidelines, despite the agency’s protestations.
The outcome provided an enormous boon not just to Ripple but the wider cryptocurrency sphere, as exchanges quickly moved to relist XRP for trading. All the while, Deaton worked on the case almost entirely pro bono, driven by his burgeoning crypto philosophy and eagerness to curb wanton governmental intervention into the lives of everyday citizens. His remarkable impact as an amateur crypto lawyer has now earned Deaton the title of 2022’s Lawyer of the Year from Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly – tangible recognition for being the unlikely hero at the heart of a case that promised to transform the digital asset regulatory environment.
