Former SEC chief joins Fireblocks as adviser

A custodian focused on institutional clients, Fireblocks, announced that the former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Jay Clayton, became a member of its Advisory Board.

Today, we’re excited to welcome Jay Clayton, former chairman of the @SECGov, to the Fireblocks Board of Advisors! https://t.co/HdqwMpjI6k [1/2] pic.twitter.com/tpis1JBroe

— Fireblocks (@FireblocksHQ) August 19, 2021

The company expects that his experience will help “Fireblocks and its clients in defining the requirements for supporting, developing and deploying solutions for the forming digital asset infrastructure.”

“Fireblocks will benefit greatly from Jay’s work on the Advisory Board, given his experience across many aspects of the financial sector. He will help further enhance the security and resilience of Fireblocks’ infrastructure for market participants and investors,” said co-founder and CEO Michael Shaulov.

Clayton noted that he shares Fireblocks’ view that custody of digital assets requires the same level of service as traditional custodial services.

“I value the company’s commitment to improving all aspects of the ecosystem for storing and transferring assets, as well as the level of interaction between the team and existing industry participants who have a robust regulatory framework, and with new players in the space,” added the former SEC head.

He left the post of chairman of the Commission on December 23, 2020. A day earlier, the regulator filed a suit against Ripple. The agency accused the fintech company and its executives of selling unregistered securities worth $1.3 billion in XRP tokens.

The case continues under the new head of the SEC Gary Gensler, whose nomination was approved by the Senate on April 14.

Back in July, Fireblocks reached a $2 billion valuation after a $30 million Series D funding round.