Elizabeth Warren defeats crypto advocate John Deaton to hold Massachusetts senate seat
Quick Take
- Elizabeth Warren has been critical of the crypto industry and has been behind an anti-money laundering bill that would extend Bank Secrecy Act requirements.
- Republican candidate John Deaton gained support from some leaders in the crypto industry.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren prevailed in her Senate race against Republican crypto-friendly candidate John Deaton.
Warren, who has notoriously been critical of crypto, won that race in Massachusetts on Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press.
This would mark Warren's fourth term in the U.S. Senate. She is a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Banking Committee. The latter has jurisdiction over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Warren has been critical of the crypto industry and has been behind an anti-money laundering bill that would extend Bank Secrecy Act requirements, including know-your-customer rules, to miners, validators and wallet providers.
Deaton gained support from some leaders in the crypto industry, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Garlinghouse told a crowd at DC Fintech Week last month that he had donated to Deaton. Deaton has criticized SEC Chair Gary Gensler and filed a petition in 2021 challenging the SEC's claim that it is a security in its case against Ripple.
Ripple has been embroiled in a legal fight with the SEC for years. In 2020, the SEC accused the firm of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, which the agency says is an unregistered security.
Heated exchanges
During a debate in October, Warren questioned Deaton's connections to the crypto industry.
“He's saying he has really made crypto folks mad, so mad that they came here to Massachusetts and are funding 90% of his campaign to try to take back this Senate seat to take it away from me," she said.
Deaton responded and questioned why Warren was so focused on crypto and said he wished she "would attack inflation the way she attacks crypto," adding "I wish she would attack securing the border the way she's focused on crypto."
Warren then reiterated her stance that crypto needs to follow the same rules as more traditional financial sectors.
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