Professional-XRP lawyer John Deaton introduced a brand new U.S. Senate bid, this time difficult Democratic Sen. Ed Markey in Massachusetts’ 2026 election.
Deaton, a Republican, beforehand misplaced to Sen. Elizabeth Warren by almost 20 factors, however gained nationwide consideration as a pro-crypto candidate.
His new marketing campaign doesn’t seem to deal with crypto as a coverage concern, although it accepts crypto donations.
Professional-XRP legal professional and Crypto Twitter mainstay John Deaton formally introduced one other U.S. Senate bid late Monday, after failing to unseat famous business critic Elizabeth Warren final fall.
Deaton will run in subsequent yr’s midterm election towards Sen. Ed Markey, Massachusetts’ different Democratic senator. The crypto-focused legal professional is operating as a Republican, and the celebration’s state management will quickly vote on whether or not to endorse him—a transfer that might doubtless clinch his spot on the Republican poll line within the basic election.
Deaton informed Decrypt earlier this yr that he was more likely to enter the race, given the identify recognition he stated he gathered in his unsuccessful 2024 run towards Warren.
I’m John Deaton. I grew up with nothing, served within the Marines, and constructed a life and enterprise right here in Massachusetts via exhausting work.
Households are struggling whereas profession politicians like Ed Markey are absent and out of contact.
Deaton’s odds of victory towards Warren in that race have been a longshot, provided that Massachusetts is likely one of the most reliably blue-voting states within the nation. They may very well be even slimmer in a matchup towards Markey.
Why? As a result of final yr, Deaton was capable of acquire nationwide consideration operating as a pro-crypto candidate towards Warren, maybe the business’s most outstanding foil in Congress, at a essential juncture for digital asset regulation. Whereas these situations weren’t almost sufficient to push Deaton over the sting—he in the end misplaced to Warren by almost 20 factors—they did ship loads of monetary help from the crypto business flowing to his marketing campaign.
This time round, issues might look a bit completely different. Whereas many within the crypto business view Markey as an enemy, Massachusetts’ junior senator is a far much less outstanding perceived menace than Warren. And whereas the business seen itself as waging an existential struggle for survival final November, the second Trump administration’s aggressivelypro-cryptostrikes have calmed a lot of that fear.
As one signal of the altering occasions, Deaton’s new marketing campaign website’s “Points” web page makes no point out of crypto coverage—although a biography of the legal professional does point out his curiosity in crypto and advocacy for XRP holders. The location additionally permits guests to donate to Deaton’s marketing campaign in quite a few cryptocurrencies together with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and meme cash BONK, Dogecoin, Dogwifhat, and Peanut the Squirrel.
In March, Deaton informed Decrypt that he noticed a path to victory towards Markey in 2026—as long as the crypto business’s mighty political spending PACs, significantly Fairshake, backed him up.
Even in final yr’s race towards Warren, Fairshake didn’t again Deaton, opting to as an alternative deal with nearer, swing-state races. A Fairshake consultant didn’t reply when requested by Decrypt whether or not the PAC will again Deaton this time round.
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