Pro-XRP Lawyer John Deaton Responds To Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade

The world’s second-largest crypto asset by market cap, Ethereum, is keeping pace with innovative upgrades. The newest development on Ethereum is the completion of its latest Shanghai Upgrade. 

On April 13, ConsenSys took to Twitter to celebrate the long-awaited launch of Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade. The update will permit ETH stakers to withdraw their staked Ether for the first time.

But while responding to the announcement, the founder of CryptoLaw, Attorney Deaton, referenced Hinman’s remark. 

ConsenSys Celebrates Ethereum’s Upgrade, Deaton Responds 

According to the tweet from ConsenSys, Ethereum’s upgrade was on the execution and consensus layers of the network. Hence, users could finally withdraw their staked ETH from the Ethereum staking pool. 

In its announcement, ConsenSys promised a giveaway of Shanghai/Capella NFT to some of the ETH stakers. This was part of the firm’s approach to celebrating the latest evolution of ETH through an upgrade.

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ConsenSys is an Ethereum software firm that supports the development of applications on the Ethereum blockchain.

However, Pro-XRP Attorney Deaton responded to the announcement from ConsenSys regarding the latest Ethereum upgrade. He posted, “When we look at Ethereum, we don’t see a third promoter.” Deaton’s response referenced an old remark of the former director of SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, Bill Hinman.

Hinman made the remark during an interview with CNBC in 2018. He stated that the SEC as a regulator doesn’t see any third-party promoter when observing the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Deaton’s response using the Hinman remark implies that ConsenSys is Ethereum’s third-party promoter.

Controversies Surrounding Hinman’s Remark

During the All Market Summit of Yahoo Finance in 2018, Hinman announced that BTC and ETH are non-securities. However, the former SEC director did not comment on XRP though the crypto token was among the top three digital assets by market cap in 2018.

Following the SEC’s allegation against Ripple for selling unregistered securities, many controversies sprang up regarding Hinman’s remark. Some crypto community members believed the SEC was biased in its cryptocurrency regulatory measures. The US regulator was said to favor some crypto protocols above others and ETH is enjoying the magnanimity of the SEC.

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Attorney Deaton disclosed that Hinman received more than $9 million in profit sharing from Simpson Thacher. Part of the money came after his exit from the SEC in December 2020.

Also, a non-profit regulator, Empower Oversight published documents indicating the biased activities of the former SEC director. According to Empower Oversight, Hinman had a direct financial interest in a law firm, Simpson Thacher and Bartlett.

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