Arthur Levitt Jr., the former chairman of the U.S. SEC, has been named an official advisor to bitcoin payment processor Bitpay as well as to Vaurum, an institutional bitcoin exchange.

"Bitcoin is a fascinating new product in the rapidly changing world of financial service," says Levitt. "I hope to help BitPay and Vaurum blend their new business models with core monetary methods and transparency practices in order to ensure their long-term success."

Levitt will work closely with both companies to monitor business practices and help develop new ways to market and refine bitcoin, Bitpay reports.

"Arthur's experience and reputation are incredible assets to a rapidly innovative company like BitPay, and with his advice we hope to better navigate the financial industry and build a successful business," says Tony Gallippi, BitPay co-founder and executive chairman.

Vaurum CEO Avish Bhama said that although blockchain technology is now in a position "to transform the financial services world, [it] will continue to remain an intellectual curiosity until it has a compelling everyday use case.

"Arthur Levitt brings additional validation to the space, and we're pleased to work with him on our financial controls, banking relationships and regulatory compliance," he said.

Levitt is the longest-serving chairman (1993–2001) in SEC history. He currently resides on the boards of Bloomberg LP and Motif Investing, and is an advisor to Goldman Sachs, Promontory Financial Group and Knight Capital Group.