The former SEC chairman, whose agency’s Ripple case ended in August 2025, is taking a national security role with no authority over the SEC, crypto rules or XRP.
Jay Clayton is set to become U.S. Director of National Intelligence on Monday, moving the former SEC chairman into a national security post that does not affect the SEC, crypto regulation or XRP. Clayton is closely tied to crypto markets because the SEC sued Ripple for $1.3 billion on his final full day in office in December 2020, also accusing Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen of selling about $600 million of XRP personally. Judge Analisa Torres later ruled that only Ripple’s sales to large institutions violated the law, fined the company $125,035,150 and barred it from repeating those sales. Both sides dropped their appeals on August 7, 2025, ending the four-year case with the fine intact. XRP showed little reaction, trading near $1.08 on Sunday, up 1.9% on the day but still down 64% over the past year.