Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton has been selected by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the former U.S. president announced Thursday.
Clayton, who currently serves as senior policy advisor and general counsel at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, is widely regarded as a business-friendly Wall Street lawyer.
He will take over from current U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, known for obtaining a 25-year prison sentence for now-disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried after he defrauded investors of $8 billion.
“I am pleased to announce that Jay Clayton of New York, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in my first term, where he has done an amazing job, is hereby nominated as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York,” – Trump said. “Jay is a highly respected business leader, lawyer and public servant. Jay will be a strong fighter for the truth as we make America great again.”
Donald Trump’s shocking cabinet picks
Despite Trump’s announcement on Thursday, not everyone in the cryptocurrency community was happy with the news.
During his time at the SEC, Clayton approved a lawsuit against Ripple Labs for allegedly violating federal securities laws in connection with the sale of the XRP token in 2020.
Trump made some surprising appointments to his cabinet this week, choosing Congressman Matt Gaetz, who has legal problems, as attorney general, Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, and former US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Most importantly, Trump’s choice of X CEO Elon Musk and former Republican Party presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency(aptly named DOGE) caused the price of the cryptocurrency of the same name to soar.
Similarly, the price of Bitcoin has skyrocketed since Trump defeated Democratic candidate Kamala Harris earlier this month, and the cryptocurrency created by Satoshi Nakamoto surged to more than $93,000 this week. The former U.S. president will reclaim the Oval Office when he takes the oath of office on January 20, 2025.
