Pro-XRP Lawyer Deaton Claims JPMorgan Is Manipulating Bitcoin, Just Like Silver
John E. Deaton, a pro-XRP legal professional who has grow to be a distinguished voice in US crypto coverage circles, is alleging that enormous banks, naming JPMorgan and CEO Jamie Dimon, are utilizing “paper markets” to suppress bitcoin’s value, arguing the setup resembles previous precious-metals playbooks the place heavy futures positioning allegedly muted spot-market indicators.
Deaton’s feedback adopted a extensively shared comment from Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, who instructed Bloomberg that “Bitcoin was not presupposed to act like this. Something went incorrect. I believe we’re getting near the underside, however we’ll see.” Deaton framed the disconnect as particularly notable given what he known as supportive macro tailwinds and a friendlier political backdrop for crypto.
Are Bitcoin, XRP And Altcoins Manipulated?
“Novogratz is correct — the mathematics isn’t mathing,” Deaton wrote on X. “When gold hits all-time highs and Bitcoin stalls regardless of the identical macro tailwinds + a really pleasant crypto administration — it’s important to have a look at the paper markets. We’ve seen this film earlier than with Silver — heavy shorting by way of futures can suppress value motion even when bodily demand is thru the roof.”
He pushed the argument additional, casting the second as a structural shift somewhat than a brief market quirk. “I imagine we’re seeing the identical financial institution playbook being run on BTC. I additionally imagine we’re watching the Financialization of Bitcoin and Crypto in real-time,” Deaton mentioned.
“The similar gamers who spent years suppressing Silver costs with paper contracts at the moment are utilizing the identical instruments on BTC and different crypto belongings. It’s not a failure of the tech — it’s a coordinated effort by the outdated guard to maintain the Digital Gold narrative in a cage.”
Deaton additionally tied market-structure claims to the coverage combat in Washington, pointing to a widening rift between massive banks and crypto-native corporations. “We see the outdated guard — JPMorgan and Jamie Dimon — publicly attacking the brand new guard — Coinbase and Brian Armstrong,” he wrote, arguing banks had been concurrently lobbying to gradual crypto laws whereas making use of related leverage in derivatives markets.
While Deaton’s bitcoin declare is an allegation, JPMorgan has confronted main penalties tied to manipulative conduct in precious-metals futures.
In September 2020, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered JPMorgan Chase & Co. and subsidiaries to pay $920.2 million (together with $311.7 million in restitution, $172.0 million in disgorgement, and a $436.4 million civil financial penalty) for manipulative and misleading conduct and spoofing in valuable metals and US Treasury futures that the CFTC mentioned spanned “no less than eight years.”
The Department of Justice, in a parallel decision, mentioned JPMorgan entered right into a deferred prosecution settlement tied to 2 wire-fraud counts and paid greater than $920 million in mixed penalties, disgorgement, and sufferer compensation. DOJ court docket paperwork described the precious-metals scheme as occurring roughly between March 2008 and August 2016, involving illegal buying and selling in markets together with gold and silver futures.
Deaton’s put up lands as silver itself has been violently repriced. Spot silver hit a report $121.64 on Jan.29 earlier than sliding sharply all the way down to round $73.575 on February 5, 2026. The present rumor making the rounds on X is easy: JPMorgan opened massive shorts across the $120 prime, then lined into the slide close to $78 as supply hit.
At press time, XRP traded at $1.43.
