Thread by @JohnEDeaton1

THEORY 1: POLITICAL REVENGE It is known both in the crypto community and the Gov’t that Clayton is perceived to be anti-crypto. President Trump stated that he does not favor Bitcoin OR cryptocurrency. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has publicly stated similar beliefs. Former NSA John

Bolton stated that he was present when he heard Trump instruct Mnuchin to “GO AFTER BITCOIN.” More significant, is that Ripple and its executives, especially CEO @bgarlinghouse, Co-founder @chrislarsensf and General Counsel @s_alderoty have been very critical of the Trump

Administration and Clayton. In 2018 Garlinghouse and CTO @JoelKatz met with Clayton and Trump’s senior officials. Afterwards, Alderoty stated that the U.S. is close to losing the global edge in crypto and Blockchain technology to China. Larsen argued that China can reverse a BTC

transaction due to its control over Chinese Bitcoin miners. He argued that the U.S. isn’t winning the technological Cold War against China. He argued that China mining, related to BTC and ETH, is over 80% of total mining. Larsen said the U.S. Gov’t’s INACTION is losing the war

and is suppressing American
innovation. Garlinghouse went on CNBC, CNN and FOX and threatened to relocate Ripple outside of the U.S. due to the Administration’s continued lack of regulatory clarity. He stated on FOX that the Trump Administration was favoring China and

suppressing American innovation by providing regulatory clarity to ETH and BTC, which are controlled and subsidized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Ripple put significant pressure on Clayton. Powerful politicians questioned Clayton’s performance and his allegiance. Senator

@MikeCrapo wrote a letter to both the OCC and SEC seeking clarity regarding Crypto PAYMENTS! Crapo stated that the different gov’t agencies need clear rules that do not stifle American innovation. WEEKS prior to the SEC enforcement action against Ripple a number of US Congressmen

signed a letter to the SEC asking for regulatory clarity. Ripple’s efforts continued to place political pressure on Clayton. The Washington Examiner
publicized an INVESTIGATIVE piece on the issue of the Trump Administration and Clayton losing the Blockchain technology war to

China because the SEC would not provide clarity. An article was published stating that cryptocurrency is at the forefront of not just finance but even NATIONAL SECURITY. The article stated that the U.S. Intelligence Community is raising
concerns about the CCP’s influence over

digital currencies AT THE SEC. The Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, wrote a letter directed AT CLAYTON in EARLY NOVEMBER 2020 stating that “crypto and CBDCs are all being drawn into a multi-front global competition against
Beijing for leadership of the world’s

economy.” He informed Clayton that industry leaders (RIPPLE) are worried that China is leaving the U.S. behind in the digital-currency race. Ratcliffe pointed to concerns the U.S. has regarding China’s sway over digital currencies; as more than half of the world’s mining is

located in China. He warned Clayton that the Chinese Gov’t has created its own state-controlled digital currency that would make it tough for the U.S. based companies (RIPPLE) and innovators to compete. He offered to have intelligence officers brief Clayton on the issue.

Clayton did not appreciate the pressure being placed on him
and the SEC and that pressure came from the direct efforts of Ripple and its two executives. Irritated by the Ratcliffe letter, Clayton refused to personally respond to it. Instead, an SEC Spokesperson responded and

claimed, “Clayton is committed to restoring innovation in the Digital Assets and digital payments space consistent with US investor protection and anti-money laundering laws.” Why would they respond this way? Anti-money laundering? Really?
This was an unusually generic response

to claims that the SEC was HELPING China win the blockchain crypto revolution. The Washington Examiner found this letter by Trump’s Top Spy Chief to signal a push to convince Clayton and the SEC to make it easier for U.S. owned
crypto companies (RIPPLE) to compete against those

based in and controlled by China. Alderoty was interviewed and discussed China’s influence over digital currencies. He said “the data doesn’t lie; the vast majority of BTC’s network and infrastructure - chips, mining pools and software, are all located in China or created by

Chinese companies. This is not decentralization. The CCP wields absolute control in China.” Ripple’s GC’s remarks to The Examiner were extremely critical of the Trump Administration and the SEC, INCLUDING Clayton. Alderoty wrote in August 2020 that the Chinese Gov’t subsidizes

the vast amounts of energy needed to fuel BTC and
ETH miners.” He stated that “65% of Bitcoin mining is concentrated in China.” Ripple’s GC publicly questioned whether the U.S. is really willing to allow China to win this new technological and economic Cold War and allow China

to dictate important parts of a new global economic system. The Examiner’s article concluded by taking a direct shot at Clayton. A Senior Intelligence officer told the Washington Examiner that “competing with China is a
serious enough challenge without US regulators GETTING IN

THE WAY. Senator @TomCottonAR also sent Clayton a letter in July 2020 AFTER he sent his first letter to Clayton in December 2018. In both letters, Cotton addresses digital currencies to ensure U.S. companies (RIPPLE) have a chance to compete. Cotton’s second letter included

Director Ratcliffe and White House NSA O’Brien. It criticized how “so far, the SEC has concluded that only Chinese controlled BTC & ETH can be considered non-securities.”Cotton was making the same argument that Ripple and its two executives have been making for years. Except now,

Ripple’s argument that the SEC providing regulatory clarity for only BTC & ETH, but NOT XRP, was favoring China over the US - was being made by Congress, the NSA, the Media and US Senators. And they all were directing their criticisms to one agency and its Chairman. Possibly the

worst thing that Ripple’s executives could do AFTER publicly alleging the Trump Administration and Clayton were favoring Chinese technology over American innovation, was to publicly congratulate Biden. The two Ripple executives stated that they believed Biden’s tenure would be

better for digital currencies. Garlinghouse stated that the Biden Administration had to be better because he “couldn’t imagine the regulatory environment any worse.” It appears that Clayton proved Garlinghouse wrong and provided him with a worse environment. Is my revenge theory

rank speculation? Of course it is? But, until the truth is discovered, I will explore all feasible theories. You think this theory is wrong? Why wasn’t @JedMcCaleb sued? He has sold billions of XRP and he is a Co-founder, like Larsen. How are his sales of XRP, not securities? 🤔