(Rejected) SEC Chairman Jay Clayton Believes Bitcoin is More of a Store of Value and Payment Mechanism

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Jay Clayton, the chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has weighed in on Bitcoin being a store of value and payment mechanism. He acknowledged that the leading cryptocurrency was not a security. 

Bitcoin steps in to curb payment inefficiencies

During an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Clayton noted that the inefficiencies in the present payment mechanisms are a blessing in disguise because they are driving Bitcoin adoption. He affirmed:

“We determined that bitcoin was not a security, it was much more a payment mechanism and stored value. Our current payment mechanisms have inefficiencies, those inefficiencies are the things that are driving the rise of bitcoin.”

Clayton cleared the air by stipulating that they did not regulate Bitcoin as a security because it was more of a mode of payment and store of value during his tenure, scheduled to come to an end as the year closes. Upon his departure, he will have served as one of the longest-reigning SEC chairs after a three and a half year tenure. 

Bitcoin to be regulated as a payment apparatus

Clayton suggested that the SEC would regulate Bitcoin as a payment mode because people were adopting it in droves because of frustrations and inefficiencies witnessed in traditional payment mechanisms. For instance, nearly 25,000 BTC addresses were created in just one hour on Nov 18. 

He stated:

“The government does regulate payments. And what we are seeing is that our current payment mechanisms domestically and internationally have inefficiencies. Those inefficiencies are the things that are driving the rise of Bitcoin and these types of digital assets.”

In other news, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is developing domestic reporting rules for cryptocurrency taxation—assessing the pros and cons of different crypto tax models.

Speaking during a blockchain-focused OECD event, Erika Nijenhaus, the Senior Counsel for the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy, affirmed that the IRS faces a choice between a risk-focused approach to crypto taxation, similar to the international Common Reporting Standard, and another approach focuses on tax liabilities.