Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton joins crypto advisory board

Three months after resigning from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, Jay Clayton has joined an advisory board of crypto investment manager One River Asset Management, signaling a changing of the guard for the former securities regulator. 

Clayton, along with Kevin Hassett of The Lindsey Group and Jon Orszag of Compass Lexecon, joins One River Asset Management’s newly formed academic and regulatory advisory council, the company announced Monday. Although Clayton’s exact role within the advisory group wasn’t specified, One RIver CEO Eric Peters said his goal was to bring together distinguished individuals with “varying regulatory and policy experience.”

“We were impressed by Eric's willingness to hear our varying views on the digitization of our monetary, banking and capital markets ecosystem and One River's commitment to transparency,” Clayton said.

Clayton served a three-and-a-half-year stint at the SEC before resigning on Dec. 23, 2020. His tenure was defined by a substantial increase in monetary remedies, possibly to the tune of over $14 billion, and returning billions to harmed investors.

He was also present during the last cryptocurrency bull market when Bitcoin (BTC) mania reached mainstream investors. In 2019, Clayton warned investors they would be “sorely mistaken” if they expect that the cryptocurrency would be tradeable on major exchanges without more stringent regulations in place.

One River Asset Management emerged as a pivotal Bitcoin player in late 2020 by scooping up $600 million in crypto assets. At the time, the firm said it expected to own roughly $1 billion worth of BTC and Ether (ETH) by the first half of 2021. Those targets may have already been met, given the rapid appreciation of crypto assets so far this year.