Over the past few months, there have been many notable rivalries in different political spaces. There was Trump vs Biden until it became Trump vs Harris. However, other than the presidential rivalries, some very interesting rivalries are just as heated, if not more. One of them is the rivalry for the US Senate between none other than John Deaton and incumbent Senator Elizabeth Warren. 

The October 15 debate between Senator Elizabeth and crypto lawyer John Deaton, the Republican candidate, was as heated as it could get. The debate, held between both candidates vying for a seat as a United States senator from Massachusetts, saw the state of crypto as one of the major talking points.

Deaton, the challenger, wasted no time calling out the incumbent Democrat senator for focusing on building what he called an “anti-crypto army” instead of focusing on all the other issues impacting lower and middle-class American families in Massachusetts.

In reply, Warren stated that she has no issues with people who want to trade crypto. According to her statement, all she wants is to ensure that the crypto industry “follows the same rules” of consumer protection and counter-terrorism as members of the TradFi industry, such as banks and stockbrokers.

While both Deaton and Warren were able to agree that traditional banking has failed many Americans in the past, Warren also pointed out the fact that crypto is also often used by terrorists, drug traffickers, and other bad actors to finance their illegal activities.

Deaton also accused Warren of not prioritizing banking access, referencing a December Senate Committee hearing in which Warren discussed crypto crime with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon instead of banking failures.

Hitting back at Deaton, Warren claimed that the Republican candidate only supported crypto because 90% of his campaign funding came from the crypto industry, and he’d have to make sure his investors see a “return on investment” if he won the seat.

Doubling down on her point, she claimed Deaton will have to fight for crypto for his “crypto buddies” who bankrolled him. Deaton then explained that his support for crypto came from a genuine place. 

He shared a personal story of how crypto, Bitcoin especially, became his mother’s way out of the predatory charges traditional banks charged for their services.

The Republican, trying to exonerate himself from Warren’s accusations, also mentioned that he has had his own upsets with the crypto industry and even has beef with many “crypto billionaires.”

Deaton then dished out some accusations of his own, claiming that Warren favored banks over the working class. He stated that Warren’s bills ban self-custody in America while allowing banks to own Bitcoin, which does not benefit American households. 

While the winner is far from decided, Deaton has already won the Republican nomination in the Massachusetts primary election held on September 4th. But Warren is not doing bad either. Election data from The Hill showed that Warren has a 2.5% lead on Deaton based on six polls.

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