U.S. Securities and Exchange Chairman Jay Clayton just delivered a rebuke to cryptocurrency backers, alleging that Bitcoin is unlikely to trade on a major US exchange until it"s much better regulated. Crypto"s Not Ready for Prime-Time
The chairman of the independent agency of the United States federal government stated in his opening speech at Delivering Alpha: “If [investors] think there’s the same rigor around that price discovery as there is on the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange ... they are sorely mistaken. We have to get to a place where we can be confident that trading is better regulated.†Jay Clayton said Bitcoin trading isn"t sufficiently regulated. | Source:  SeaRick1/Shutterstock.com
This is not the first time Clayton has echoed such sentiment. In November of last year, the SEC chairman revealed his concerns about Bitcoin price manipulation, stating: “An even harder question given that they trade on largely unregulated exchanges is how can we be sure that those prices aren’t subject to significant manipulation? … People needed to answer these hard questions for us to be comfortable that this was the appropriate kind of product.â€
Bitcoin ETF Withdrawal
Clayton"s statements come after CBOE withdrew its application to list the VanEck/SolidX Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) — which all but pulls the plug on any hopes for a cryptocurrency ETF in the near future.
As of the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin had not reacted to Clayton"s statements. It is currently trading at $9,869 on Kraken after failing to hold the $10,000 level earlier this morning. This article was edited by Josiah Wilmoth.