John Deaton has reacted to ConsenSys' announcement of the launch of Ethereum's Shanghai/Capella upgrade. ConsenSys, a leading Ethereum software company, have partnered with Mastercard in 2021 and have celebrated the upgrade with a NFT giveaway. Reacting to the development, attorney Deaton referred to an old remark by Bill Hinman from 2018, the former Director of SEC's Division of Corporate Finance. During his CNBC interview, Hinman stated that the securities regulator does not see a third-party promoter whenever it takes a look at Ethereum. This has sparked many controversies, due to the fact that the SEC has charged Ripple for offering unregistered securities.

Empower Oversight, a non-profit watchdog, has released documents which suggest that Hinman might have made notable regulatory efforts favouring Ethereum, due to his direct financial interests with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, a law firm which is a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Addtionally, Deaton reported that Hinman received over $9M in profit sharing from the company after leaving the SEC.

The news of Ethereum's Shanghai/Capella upgrade has created many conversations amongst crypto investors, especially XRP holders, who have discussed the potential implications of the SEC's decision to not comment on XRP and its interpretation of Ethereum as a non-security. The events have proved to be somewhat controversial and Deaton's comments on the matter have brought an additional light to the topic.

Overall, Deaton's comments have drawn attention to the potential conflict of interest Hinman had during his speech and the potential regulatory efforts that were made to ensure Ethereum succeeded. It has been a source of debate for many in the crypto community and the Ethereum upgrade launch has been a focal point of the discussion.



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