Former US SEC Chair Jay Clayton has commented that Bitcoin hasn’t been classified as a security for a long time. However, during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box two days ago, he warned that this status as a non-security couldn’t protect it in the face of new regulations, which he claimed might come soon.
The host, Andrew Ross Sorkin, mentioned that the SEC didn’t have any position on Bitcoin regulation under Clayton’s watch, to which he responded that Bitcoin was declared not to be a security before he received the job as the head of the regulatory body.
“Bitcoin was decided to be not a security before the time I got to the SEC. Therefore, the SEC’s jurisdiction over Bitcoin was rather indirect.”
Clayton left the SEC in late 2020, but remained connected to the industry and is now an advisor for One River Asset Management on cryptocurrencies.
Although he has declared that he doesn’t know what laws are coming exactly, he does believe the regulatory environment will change soon:
“Where digital assets land at the end of the day […] will be driven in part by regulation—both domestic and international—and I expect, and I’m speaking as a citizen now, that regulation will come in this area both directly and indirectly whether it’s through how these are held at banks, security accounts, taxation and the like. We will see this regulatory environment evolve.”
Just a week ago, billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio also issued a warning regarding the fact that the US could simply ban Bitcoin, just as it did gold during the 1930s.