By Douglas Gillison and Chris Prentice

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

Clayton also expressed support for easing regulatory burdens to encourage companies to go public. His remarks suggest broad-based public policy changes anticipated by the industry, which heavily influenced this month's elections.

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

Under President Joe Biden, regulators have taken aggressive enforcement actions against crypto companies and have not adopted industry-requested regulations. Clayton, who is being considered for a role in Trump's second administration, including attorney general, noted sharp differences with Biden'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" because they can deter 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 commented.

Clayton also mentioned that recent Supreme Court precedents limiting the executive branch's powers should prompt regulators to review existing litigation and regulations to assess their viability.

When asked about potential plans to join the Trump administration, Clayton refrained from specifics but stated, "If asked for a role where I could be effective, I'll say yes."