John Deaton’s X Account Possibly Compromised, Ripple CTO Issues Alert

• Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton’s X account has been reportedly hacked. 
• The X account of US legal news outlet Crypto Law, has also been hacked.
• Deaton’s account was used to promote Arch Public, a cryptocurrency project.

A suspicious post on pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton’s X (formerly Twitter) account sparked speculation Tuesday about a possible hack. A surge in such incidents has raised concerns about security across various platforms, especially Elon Musk’s X.

Deaton is known for supporting XRP and Ripple Labs in their battle against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and has almost 400K followers. 

John Deaton’s X Account Hacked?

Concerns flared when John Deaton’s X account posted an unusual content promoting Arch Public, a cryptocurrency platform. The post tagged crypto exchange Gemini, seemingly suggesting an endorsement from Deaton. 

Ripple Labs’ Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, issued a public warning on X, urging followers to exercise caution and refrain from interacting with Deaton’s account until its integrity could be confirmed. “This looks wrong in so many ways,” Schwartz commented.

Related: Hacker Mints, Steals $5M ZK Using Admin Key for Old ZKsync Airdrop

Why the Conflicting Messages After Deaton Account Post?

Adding to the confusion, Deaton’s account later posted acknowledging the situation and announcing a live session for 3 PM EST on April 16, 2025, for clarification. However, market participants believe this to be the hacker’s attempt to misguide Deaton’s followers.

US legal news account Crypto Law also claimed that Deaton’s X account is not hacked in two separate X posts, which resulted in crypto enthusiasts believing that Crypto Law account has also been compromised.

Is X Facing a Wider Crypto Hack Problem?

This potential Deaton account compromise isn’t an isolated event. Just days earlier, on April 15, the X account of Lucy Powell , a UK Member of Parliament and Leader of the House of Commons, was hacked. Attackers used her verified account to promote a scam crypto token named House of Commons Coin (HOC), sharing links and descriptions. 

Deleted posts described HOC as a “community-driven digital currency” and shared links to the token. A member of Powell’s staff confirmed the hack to the BBC, stating that swift action was taken to secure the account and remove the misleading posts. 

Related: Check Your Copy-Paste: Kaspersky Details Crypto Clipboard Hijacker

Adding to the growing list of security breaches, ZKsync, an Ethereum layer-2 protocol, reported that a hacker compromised an admin account on April 15. The attacker exploited a function to mint 111 million unclaimed ZK tokens worth $5.1 million at press time.