Former U.S. SEC chairman claims to be a big fan of encryption technology

Jay Clayton, the former chairman of the US SEC, said that cryptocurrencies have many uses and are connected to various industries. The US Securities and Exchange Commission should only be responsible for regulating those industries related to it.

Former Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Jay Clayton was appointed by former President Trump as the chairman of the SEC in 2017.

During his tenure as the head of the US SEC, Clayton often defended Bitcoin (BTC) as a store of value. Last Wednesday, in an interview with CNBC's Squawk Box program, Clayton shared his views on cryptocurrency and how it should be regulated in the future.

The former SEC chairman stated that he is a "big fan of cryptocurrency technology" and his efficiency advantages in the financial system and tokenization are huge.

Prior to Clayton's remarks, the current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler recently confirmed that the agency has no plans to ban cryptocurrencies, but the U.S. Congress can. However, Gensler warned that the current form of cryptocurrency is comparable to the encrypted version of the "Wild West" without proper supervision.

When asked whether the current chairman has set too many restrictions on the cryptocurrency industry, Clayton said that cryptocurrencies have many uses and are connected to various industries. The US SEC should only be responsible for regulating those related industries.

"Cryptocurrency contains a variety of products with a variety of functions, and the rules of our financial system are clear and long-term. If you raise funds for a project, you must register your capital raising with the SEC. If you are trading securities, you must do it at a registered location, but there are many cryptocurrency fields, such as stablecoins, which are not securities and are not under the jurisdiction of the SEC."

According to Clayton, cryptocurrencies should be adopted with proper regulation. He said that the government should "take action against those who clearly violate our laws, but actively encourage the use of this technology in our entire financial system."

Clayton did not allow the approval of Bitcoin ETFs during his tenure. Since then, the agency has been criticized for rejecting spot ETF applications and approving Bitcoin futures ETFs. Grayscale submitted a letter to Vanessa Countryman, secretary of the SEC, stating that “derivatives invested in a certain asset are acceptable to investors, but they cannot be invested in the asset itself. This position is not Based on". The US SEC has been accused of treating these two Bitcoin ETF proposals unfairly.