US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton, in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on Nov. 19, said that Bitcoin was rising because of inefficiencies in current payment systems.

• Clayton was asked about his viewed on Bitcoin, including whether it was a security, which he denied as it is “more a payment mechanism and stored value”
• As to why Bitcoin was rising, Clayton said that “our current payments systems have inefficiencies” and it was because of this that Bitcoin was rising
• Bitcoin is currently hovering around the $18,000 mark, the highest it has been since late 2017
• Clayton announced earlier this week that he would leaving his role as SEC Chairman; a few candidates have already been considered as a replacement, including crypto-friendly Gary Gensler