Lawyer John Deaton opposes SBF's pardon, dismisses the scenario of FTX reaching $78 billion

Renowned crypto attorney and U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton has intensified his opposition to any potential pardon for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), dismissing recent efforts to portray the exchange as still solvent before filing for bankruptcy.

In the context of SBF circulating charts suggesting that FTX’s net asset value (NAV) could reach $78 billion by 2025, Deaton emphasized that court rulings and actual creditor losses are far more significant than hypothetical recovery scenarios.

John Deaton rejects FTX’s $78 billion valuation claim and opposes pardon

Deaton’s response came after Bankman-Fried attempted to re-enter the digital space. In a post titled “10 Myths About Me & FTX” on X, SBF denied allegations of insolvency and published a chart modeling FTX’s NAV over time.

This chart shows that if FTX had not initiated bankruptcy proceedings in November 2022, its NAV could have risen to $78 billion by February 2025, compared to $16.5 billion at the time of filing. These projections are partly based on modeled valuations of holdings, including tokens like SRM and FTT.

However, Deaton—widely known for defending the XRP community in the lawsuit between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple—rejects the reinterpretation of data in a way that favors SBF. He describes the former billionaire as a “con artist, thief, and liar,” and states that FTX’s operations were fundamentally a coordinated family effort to convert small investors’ savings into political influence and global marketing campaigns.

Not stopping at the nickname “Sam Bankman Fraud,” Deaton also questions the so-called “two-tier justice system,” suggesting that SBF’s parents—both Stanford professors—have yet to face appropriate criminal consequences related to their alleged roles in the FTX ecosystem.

While SBF’s team continues to share valuation charts, many legal experts remain skeptical, noting that “modeled assets” often rely on illiquid tokens lacking depth in real markets.

As the 2026 political cycle heats up, Deaton’s firm stance against such claims may indicate that the pro-rule-of-law faction within the crypto industry is prepared to oppose any efforts to downplay the severity of the FTX fraud—regardless of current market conditions or hypothetical recovery scenarios.