John E. Deaton, a pro-XRP attorney who has become a prominent voice in US crypto policy circles, is alleging that large banks, naming JPMorgan and CEO Jamie Dimon, are using “paper markets” to suppress bitcoin’s price, arguing the setup resembles past precious-metals playbooks where heavy futures positioning allegedly muted spot-market signals.
Deaton’s comments followed a widely shared remark from Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, who told Bloomberg that “Bitcoin was not supposed to act like this. Something went wrong. I think we’re getting close to the bottom, but we’ll see.” Deaton framed the disconnect as especially notable given what he called supportive macro tailwinds and a friendlier political backdrop for crypto.
Are Bitcoin, XRP And Altcoins Manipulated?
“Novogratz is right — the math isn’t mathing,” Deaton wrote on X. “When gold hits all-time highs and Bitcoin stalls despite the same macro tailwinds + a very friendly crypto administration — you have to look at the paper markets. We’ve seen this movie before with Silver — heavy shorting via futures can suppress price action even when physical demand is through the roof.”
He pushed the argument further, casting the moment as a structural shift rather than a temporary market quirk. “I believe we are seeing the same bank playbook being run on BTC. I also believe we are watching the Financialization of Bitcoin and Crypto in real-time,” Deaton said.
“The same players who spent years suppressing Silver prices with paper contracts are now using the same tools on BTC and other crypto assets. It’s not a failure of the tech — it’s a coordinated effort by the old guard to keep the Digital Gold narrative in a cage.”
Deaton also tied market-structure claims to the policy fight in Washington, pointing to a widening rift between large banks and crypto-native firms. “We see the old guard — JPMorgan and Jamie Dimon — publicly attacking the new guard — Coinbase and Brian Armstrong,” he wrote, arguing banks were simultaneously lobbying to slow crypto legislation while applying similar leverage in derivatives markets.
While Deaton’s bitcoin claim is an allegation, JPMorgan has faced major 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 (including $311.7 million in restitution, $172.0 million in disgorgement, and a $436.4 million civil monetary penalty) for manipulative and deceptive conduct and spoofing in precious metals and US Treasury futures that the CFTC said spanned “at least eight years.”
The Department of Justice, in a parallel resolution, said JPMorgan entered into a deferred prosecution agreement tied to two wire-fraud counts and paid more than $920 million in combined penalties, disgorgement, and victim compensation. DOJ court documents described the precious-metals scheme as occurring roughly between March 2008 and August 2016, involving unlawful trading in markets including gold and silver futures.
Deaton’s post lands as silver itself has been violently repriced. Spot silver hit a record $121.64 on Jan.29 before sliding sharply down to around $73.575 on February 5, 2026. The current rumor making the rounds on X is simple: JPMorgan opened large shorts around the $120 top, then covered into the slide near $78 as delivery hit.
At press time, XRP traded at $1.43.
