Crypto lawyer John Deaton says anyone denying the role of the “XRP Army” in Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC is either uninformed or dishonest.

He argues that XRP tokenholders were a tipping factor in Ripple Labs’ victory over the U.S. securities regulator, a case that officially concluded last month when both sides agreed to drop their appeals.

The SEC first sued Ripple in 2020, claiming it sold XRP as an unregistered security. In 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that only certain sales of the token qualified as securities offerings. The case finally wrapped up in August 2025.

Now that the outcome is settled, Deaton insists that XRP holders had a measurable impact. “No credible person can argue that the XRP Army didn’t make a difference,” he wrote on X. “If they do, they’re either ignorant of the facts or intentionally lying. We have conclusive evidence that we made a difference.”

Source: John Deaton

Deaton has long been an outspoken advocate for crypto investors, particularly XRP holders, who he says were not represented in the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple.

Deborah McCrimmon, Ripple’s vice president and deputy general counsel, said on The Penta Podcast that John Deaton and the “XRP Army” played a pivotal role in Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC. Their efforts, she explained, helped the court recognize that the case affected a broad community, not just the company.

McCrimmon noted that the work carried out voluntarily by Deaton and XRP supporters became a game changer in backing Ripple’s arguments. In particular, Ripple leaned on a fair notice defense, claiming the SEC had failed to provide clear guidance on how securities laws applied to crypto.

Ripple legal chief credits XRP Army with vital support in SEC battle

“To support that, we were looking for speeches, talks, and statements the SEC or other government officials had made about blockchain, crypto, XRP, and Ripple,” she said. “The XRP Army mined that for us.”

“We didn't ask them to, but once they saw this defense in our in our answer, people started finding this. I could have paid lawyers thousands of dollars, literally thousands of dollars, to do that and yet they were finding it and posting it on Twitter, and that was tremendously helpful for me.” 

Judge pointed to affidavits as part of the decision process

John Deaton noted that more than 2,000 exhibits were filed during the Ripple-SEC court case, and in her final decision Judge Analisa Torres specifically cited his amicus brief along with affidavits from XRP holders.

“She ruled XRP itself is not a security while citing XRP holder affidavits. Had she not cited those things, people could legitimately debate whether our efforts made a real difference,” Deaton said.

Deaton organized XRP holders to submit affidavits and provide testimonies in Ripple’s defense. Over the years, the XRP Army also lobbied, petitioned, and coordinated social media campaigns aimed at pressuring regulators.