JAKARTA – Jay Clayton is the former Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, who was appointed by former US President Donald Trump to office in 2017.

During his tenure as SEC chief, Clayton frequently defended Bitcoin (BTC) as a store of value. Last Wednesday December 15, during an interview with CNBC's Squawk Box, Jay shared his thoughts on cryptocurrencies and how they should be regulated going forward.

The former SEC chairman said he is a “strong believer in crypto technology” and that the efficiency gains in the financial system and tokenization are huge.

Clayton's remarks come as the current SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, recently confirmed that the watchdog has no plans to ban crypto, but the US Congress could do so. Gensler cautions, however, that crypto in its current form is comparable to the wild west without proper regulation.

When asked if the current chairman is setting too many restrictions on the crypto industry, Jay said that crypto has multiple purposes and is connected to multiple industries, and the SEC should be responsible for regulating only those sectors that are related to it.

“Crypto is a very diverse product, with multiple functions, and the rules of our financial system are clear and long-standing. If you raise capital for a project, you must register your capital increase with the SEC. If you are trading securities, it must be where it is registered. But there are many crypto sectors like stablecoins that are not securities and are outside the purview of the SEC," Clayton said as quoted by Cointelegraph.

According to Clayton, cryptocurrencies should be implemented but with appropriate regulation. He said governments should be "reactive to those who violate our well-defined laws but be proactive in encouraging the adoption of this technology throughout our financial system."

Clayton did not allow approval of Bitcoin ETFs during his tenure, which is happening now in 2021 under Gary Gensler. The agency has since come under fire for rejecting a spot ETF application in favor of a Bitcoin futures ETF.

Grayscale sent a letter to SEC secretary, Vanessa Countryman, stating that "there is no basis for the position that investing in derivatives for an asset is acceptable to investors but not investing in the asset itself."

The SEC is accused of treating the two Bitcoin ETF proposals unequally under the Administrative Protection Act, or APA.


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