Clayton's Crypto Past Meets His New Role as US Intelligence Chief
The former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton is now in charge of the US intelligence community as Director of National Intelligence, confirmed by a 51-47 Senate vote on July 28, 2026.
This move comes with a certain irony given his role in launching the most consequential lawsuit in crypto history against Ripple Labs and its token XRP in December 2020.
The lawsuit alleged that Ripple had conducted an unregistered securities offering worth $1.3B through XRP sales, but Judge Analisa Torres ultimately ruled in July 2023 that XRP traded on public exchanges does not qualify as a security.
The final civil penalty against Ripple was adjusted to $50 million after the company spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars defending the suit, which wrapped up with a settlement in 2025.