The former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton has joined One River Asset Management as an advisor. The SEC-registered investment advisor is a $2.5 billion firm whose cryptocurrency funds are backed by hedge fund titan Alan Howard. The fund quietly bought $600 million in crypto last year and shared its plans to increase its digital asset holdings to about $1 billion as of early 2021.
One River started buying bitcoin in November 2020.
One River started buying bitcoins back in November last year when the price was around $15k. Earlier this year, the founder and Chief Executive Officer Eric Peters said the cavalry of institutional investors is coming in “enormous” numbers with “almost every big credible institution in the U.S.” having discussions about Bitcoin. According to Peters, crypto assets are stores of value that can diversify a portfolio and hedge against inflation. “It’s no longer possible to understand what’s happening in markets, let alone where we’re going, without a deep understanding of digital assets, blockchain, tokenization, and virtualization,” the CEO said.
Gary Gensler takes charge as SEC chairman.
Earlier this month, the Senate Banking Committee in the U.S. voted in favor of Gary Gensler to take charge as the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Chairman. According to the official announcement, the Senate Committee voted 14-10 in favor of Gensler. Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Gensler to lead the SEC. The cryptocurrency market jumped nearly 3% following the news. Gray Gensler’s appointment as the US SEC chairman came as good news for the crypto industry. Earlier this month, Gensler said that he would work to promote innovation. The former Chief of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) added that Bitcoin and other digital currencies brought new thinking to payments and financial inclusion.