Clayton had initially planned to step down in June 2021.

Why did he go early ?

SEC doesn’t currently regulate Bitcoin, Clayton said, “Well, let’s put it this way: We do not regulate Bitcoin as a security. When people use crypto assets as securities to raise capital for a venture, the SEC regulates that. And what was happening in the ICO craze was people were using ICOs and essentially making public offerings of securities without registering them with the SEC.”

Clayton clarified that the SEC “determined that Bitcoin was not a security, it was much more a payment mechanism and store of value,” before adding, “the government does regulate payments.”

Bitcoin Will Face More Regulation as Payment Method: SEC Chairman
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said that Bitcoin should be regulated closer to something like a payment mechanism or store of value than a security.

The outgoing SEC Chairman was responding to a question from Squawk Box host Andrew Ross Sorkin, who also recently interviewed JPMorgan CEO Jaime Dimon. In that interview, Dimon said Bitcoin is “not [his] cup of tea,” and chalked his skepticism up to government regulation. “My experience with the government is they can regulate whatever they want whenever they feel like it,” he said. “And Bitcoin is worth $200 billion. If it gets bigger and bigger and bigger, it will be regulated.”