Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton to Advise One River Asset Management on Crypto

Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton has taken an advisory role at hedge fund One River Digital Asset Management, the parent company of the newly launched digital asset fund One River Digital.

In a press release on Monday, One River Digital Asset Management, which manages over $2.5 billion in institutional assets, announced Clayton will join the firm's newly formed Academic and Regulatory Advisory Council along with economist Jon Orszag, and former White House adviser Kevin Hassett.

Clayton led the SEC during its crackdown on unregistered and fraudulent initial coin offerings. During that time the commission also refused to approve the application of any bitcoin exchange-traded funds and sued Ripple Labs.

Institutional bitcoin firm One River Digital is backed by billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard and has invested $600 million in bitcoin and ether for institutional clients.

The new advisory council will be tasked with assisting One River Asset Management to navigate existing policies concerning digital assets.

"The One River Academic and Regulatory Advisory Council will help us consider how these new digital systems and the investment opportunities they present will best fit within existing policy, while also helping us think through how to advance these frameworks in ways that ensure the US continues to lead the world in financial innovation and asset management,” said Eric Peters, CEO of One River Asset Management.

Read more: Former SEC Chief Clayton to Chair Investment Giant Apollo

Earlier this month, Clayton was named non-executive chairman of Apollo Global Management’s board of directors.