Lawyer Calls for Regulatory Overhaul to Save U.S. Crypto Innovation
U.S. lawmakers are being urged to take swift action on crypto regulation, and attorney John Deaton is laying down a five-part framework to get them moving.
His focus: enabling innovation while setting clear boundaries for the rapidly evolving digital asset space.
Deaton’s first call is for legislation on stablecoins. He sees this as an opportunity to boost demand for U.S. Treasuries and modernize cross-border payments, strengthening the country’s influence in global finance. Alongside that, he’s pushing for a decisive classification of crypto tokens—distinguishing which fall under securities or commodities—to end the confusion between regulatory agencies like the SEC and CFTC.
Exchange oversight is also high on his list. Deaton wants strict rules that separate customer funds from platform holdings, along with public blockchain-based proof of reserves to prevent another round of risky behavior that plagued past cycles. He also believes crypto tax rules need loosening—calling for exemptions on small transactions and the option to pay federal taxes in crypto without extra penalties.
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Finally, Deaton suggests dismantling or reforming the Accredited Investor Rule, which he argues keeps regular investors locked out of early-stage opportunities. He’s warning that if Congress delays action beyond the 2026 elections, political shifts could stall progress even further.
These ideas align with current discussions in Washington. The GENIUS Act, for example, is already floating proposals that split oversight between the Federal Reserve and state regulators for stablecoin issuers. With the stablecoin market now exceeding $234 billion, a regulatory breakthrough may not be far off—especially with pressure from political figures to fast-track decisions.
Meanwhile, the SEC’s hardline approach appears to be softening. Recent moves toward cooperation with the CFTC, coupled with new leadership under Paul Atkins, signal a shift toward more balanced oversight. Legislation like FIT21 may help define this new direction, giving the CFTC more authority over decentralized assets and ending years of regulatory tug-of-war.
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
