Crypto Legislation Likely Coming Under Trump, Ex-SEC Chief Says

Congress is likely to adopt legislation governing cryptocurrencies during President-elect Donald Trump's administration, Jay Clayton, a former top Wall Street regulator and potential political appointee, said on Wednesday.

Clayton also said he favored easing regulatory burdens to encourage companies to go public, remarks foreshadowing broad-based changes in public policy now anticipated by industry, which spent heavily to influence this month's elections.

"I think we will see crypto legislation," Clayton told a gathering of securities lawyers in New York. "I think it becomes much easier to have crypto legislation if you're tackling some of these problems that can be tackled at the executive and the administrative level."

Under President Joe Biden, regulators have pursued aggressive enforcement actions against crypto companies and have declined to adopt regulations called for by industry.

Clayton, who is in contention for a role in Trump's second administration including attorney general, also described sharp differences with the Biden administration's approach to market regulation and legal enforcement.

Regulations requiring corporate disclosures of climate transition costs, such as those adopted earlier this year by the Securities and Exchange Commission, are "terrible" since they can dissuade companies from going public.

"If you're thinking about entering the public markets and you're seeing that working its way through the system, you're like, 'Really? I gotta gather all this data that has nothing to do with how I run my business?'" Clayton said.

Clayton also said recent Supreme Court precedents that have curtailed the executive branch's powers should encourage regulators to review existing litigation and regulations to see if they remain "viable."

When asked about any plans to join the Trump administration, Clayton declined to comment on specifics but said: "If asked for a role where I could be effective, I'll say yes."

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