SEC Chairman: The cryptocurrency is not stocks and bonds

Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is aware of one thing the cryptocurrency community has been trying to tell him for years: cryptocurrencies are not stocks. In an interview with CNBC today, Clayton delivered the latest view of Bitcoin by this securities regulator.

Compared with a year ago, the SEC does not seem to provide clearer information for traders and blockchain start-ups. This is a setback for technological innovation in the United States, because the longer the SEC takes, the more entrepreneurs will decide to pack their bags and bring their successful projects to other places.

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In an interview, Clayton explained how many individual investors view Bitcoin and mistakenly believe that it is trading in a similar way to stocks or bonds, although this is not the case. He added:

“We have complex rules and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that people are not manipulating the stock market. The cryptocurrency market basically does not have this function.”

The issues that make the SEC uneasy about the Bitcoin ETF include:

– Hosting (ingeniously, Fidelity's Digital Assets division has begun offering cryptocurrency hosting services)

– Lack of rules

Maybe someone would say that the cryptocurrency market is only manipulative?

There are several different perspectives for analyzing this issue. First, the job of regulators and legislators is to create a framework that allows cryptocurrencies to be traded, allowing companies to raise funds, and so on. Therefore, when he said that the cryptocurrency lacked guidance, he should ask himself. Clayton seems to know this too, he added:

"We are trying hard to see if we can do this. But I will not easily judge that cryptocurrencies are like stocks and bonds."

The problem is that no one asks him to do this. Just ask Kik and know that the company is about to go to court with the SEC to prove that its cryptocurrency Kin is not a security. If he refers to a bitcoin ETF that has not yet been approved, then Clayton is escaping from reality and denying this inevitable fact.

As far as control is concerned, despite the securities law, there is still manipulation in the stock market. Not long ago, the CFTC imposed huge fines on large financial institutions such as UBS and Deutsche Bank because they “spoofed technology” and manipulated them in the US commodity market. But it was cancelled soon.

At the same time, Clayton seems to have forgotten the fact that Bakkt, a bitcoin futures exchange backed by ICE, is compliant. Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler said last month:

“As detailed in the ICE Futures US filing today with the CFTC, Bitcoin futures will be listed on futures exchanges regulated by federal law in the coming months.”

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