It should be noted that Jay Clayton’s name has long been known to cryptocurrency fans. Above all, he is remembered for his reluctance to approve the Bitcoin ETF, a topic we dealt with in a separate piece.

For example, in December 2018, Clayton called crypto an asset class that lacks transparency. He believed that the digital currency niche itself was too young, with elements of manipulation by big players. As such, Jay advised crypto enthusiasts not to count on the approval of a Bitcoin ETF any time soon. Ultimately, it has since had to wait just under three years.

Who supports Bitcoin

The former chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission has stated that he is “a big supporter of cryptotechnology”. In his view, their benefits to the financial system and tokenisation are enormous. And Clayton’s words particularly stand out against a recent statement by current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who stated that the US Congress is likely to ban crypto. However, Gensler himself admitted that the SEC will not take up the matter for the time being.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler

Asked if the current head of the regulator is creating too many restrictions on the crypto industry, Clayton said that cryptocurrencies have multiple purposes and are themselves linked to different industries. That said, the SEC should only be responsible for regulating sectors that relate directly to the traditional financial system. Here is his quote, published by Cointelegraph.

Cryptocurrencies are a wide range of projects with a wide variety of functions, and the rules of our financial system are clear and long standing. If you raise capital for a project, you must register it with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. If you trade in securities, it has to be registered, but there are many sectors of the crypto market like stabelcoins that are not securities and are not within the purview of the SEC.

What Clayton meant was that the crypto market would need a whole new set of rules to regulate, and digital assets are unlikely to fit into existing regulations. As we have noted, the former SEC chairman has previously expressed little support for the industry through his actions: in particular, several Bitcoin ETFs have been rejected under his watch. But in 2021, they just started launching.

Former SEC chief Jay Clayton

This week, another celebrity from the world of finance openly declared his support for crypto. She was Ryan Serhant, a well-known real estate agent and author of the TV show “Million Dollar Deal. New York.” According to his recent statement in an interview with Decrypt, more than 50 per cent of real estate transactions in the US will be conducted in cryptocurrencies in the coming years.

Here’s a rejoinder from the expert, in which he shares his vision of the situation.

There’s just going to be a lot of cryptocurrencies transferring money and investing it in hard assets, buying penthouses and things like that. I think we are living in a very unique time period.

In other words, the emergence of a large number of crypto millionaires could lead to a mirror situation where capital flows from the cryptosphere to conventional assets like real estate. All of this will become a reality once Bitcoin and altcoins gain even more status in the public eye.

Real estate expert Ryan Serhant


We think Clayton's current comments make it clear just how dramatically people's views on digital assets can change. After all, three years ago Jay thought the coin niche was too young and prone to manipulation, and now he considers himself a supporter. One would like to believe that there will be more and more such transformations as time goes on.


Read about other interesting news in our Millionaire Crypto Chat. There we will talk about other topics related to the world of blockchain and decentralisation.