Recently the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced a change that surprised everyone: Jay Clayton, president of the SEC, was nominated for the position as Director of SDNY, replacing prosecutor Geoffrey Berman.
The announcement made by Donald Trump proposes that the current chairman of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) assumes the fiscal direction of the Southern District of New York (Southern District of New York), which is currently directed by Geoffrey Berman. For his part, Berman declared that until the Senate makes a formal statement to confirm the replacement, he will not abandon his position as director of SDNY.
Likewise, Jay Clayton will not leave his position as president of the SEC until the Senate confirms the announcement made by Trump. Clayton mentioned in an email that he will remain committed to the work being done within the SEC, but that it is a great honor for him to be nominated for such an important position.
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Nomination of Jay Clayton as SDNY U.S. Attorney
In a release issued by the United States Department of Justice, Attorney General William Barr announced that Jay Clayton will be nominated for the position of United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
“I am pleased to announce that President Trump intends to nominate Jay Clayton, currently Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to serve as the next United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.”
Jay Clayton has served as president of the SEC for 3 consecutive years, focusing his management on the modernization of the capital markets and exerting part of his influence within the cryptocurrency space, sometimes positively and sometimes with absolute indifference. Likewise, the SEC, under the direction of Clayton, has established a series of regulations against several cryptographic projects run by companies such as Telegram and Facebook.
For his part, Barr also announced that the former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Bernan, would resign from his current position. However, Bernan has decided to wait for the Senate's ruling to confirm his retirement from office.
The SEC and cryptocurrencies
The SEC is one of the most influential regulatory bodies in the crypto space. This was stated by one of the advisors of DeFi Compound, Jake Chervinsky on its official Twitter account, adding that the president of this organization is one of the most important officials in decision-making for the regulation of cryptocurrencies. Chervinsky mentioned that Clayton's replacement will have a powerful impact on the crypto ecosystem, although it is not known if it will be for the benefit or detriment of the crypto community.
Although as of this writing it is still unknown who will take over as SEC Chairman when Clayton takes over SDNY, many in the community are optimistic that his replacement could bring benefits to cryptocurrency users. In this sense, the founder of TechCrunch and the signature Arrington XRP Capital, Michael Arrington noted in a tweet that Clayton's departure is a victory for the crypto community.
The SEC's analysis regarding the regulation of cryptocurrencies
From the perspective of this organization, cryptocurrencies have to be regulated by current legislation and treated as financial securities. Thus, SEC regulations towards cryptocurrencies are focused on determining whether these investments are safe or whether they represent a high risk for investors. Likewise, the SEC seeks to guarantee the security of funds available in exchanges, custody services and other cryptographic companies.
For its part, the cryptographic community has been requesting a ETF to Bitcoin, but the SEC has postponed this decision because it considers that the crypto market must still comply and satisfy the necessary standards for this.
ETFs are a type of investment fund for an asset to be listed on the stock exchange. Although the SEC has been announcing the possibility of an ETF for Bitcoin since 2018, to date it has not made a clear decision in this regard.
Now, it may be that the change of president in this organization could represent a light of hope for the cryptographic ecosystem; But the truth is that it is still not clear who will assume this important position and whether this will bring benefits to the ecosystem.
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