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.
Are Bitcoin, XRP And Altcoins Manipulated?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.
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.
