Is the SEC Shifting to a Softer Stance Against Crypto? Pro-XRP Lawyer Comments

TL;DR

US attorney John E Deaton noticed a potential shift in the SEC’s stance towards the cryptocurrency industry, especially after not leveraging the recent fake BTC ETF news to criticize the sector.
Previously, SEC’s Chairman Gary Gensler frequently associated crypto with negative activities. Deaton suggests Gensler’s behavior may be influenced by major institutions’ opinions.
Despite a rumor that the SEC approved BlackRock’s BTC ETF application causing a price surge, the approval was false. Deaton expressed more trust in judges overseeing the SEC than in the agency itself.

The SEC Seems Different

John E Deaton – a US attorney representing thousands of Ripple investors in the lawsuit against Ripple – assumed that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might have changed its stance towards the cryptocurrency industry. He based his theory on the fact that the agency did not use the fake BTC ETF news that circulated the space earlier this week as an opportunity to bash the digital asset sector.

Deaton reminded this was not the case in the past when the SEC’s Chairman Gary Gensler used to criticize crypto and link it to terrorism funding and criminal activity every time he had this option.

“I could be wrong, but I attribute it to the Court loss coupled with the Larry Fink affect. Gensler only cares about what the major incumbent donors, I mean institutions think.”

The lawyer’s opinion about the SEC’s softened approach coincides with the one shared by Scott Melker, better known as “The Wolf of All Streets.” The latter argued in a recent X (Twitter) post that the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF is just around the corner since “the language and tone have changed.”

Deaton’s Previous Reaction to the SEC

The breaking reports from October 16 that America’s securities regulator has finally approved BlackRock’s application to introduce a spot BTC ETF in the States infused enthusiasm in the crypto space while the entire market flashed green. The price of the primary digital asset, for one, surged by over 10% in a matter of minutes to as high as $29,500 (per CoinGecko).

Nonetheless, the jolly was short-lived as it turned out that there was no such official approval. The SEC also chipped in, saying people should not trust everything they read on the Internet and verify information with original sources.

Deaton disagreed with the statement, maintaining that independent judges who oversee the watchdog are more trustworthy than the agency itself. Subsequently, he claimed that an Appellate Court found the SEC to be “arbitrary and capricious:”

“Finally, a federal judge in the SDNY called the SEC lawyers hypocrites and stated they lacked faithful allegiance to the law. So, when it comes to the SEC, I choose to listen to judges. And man, are they speaking loudly.”