Key Takeaways
- Hester Peirce resigned from the SEC to teach law, shifting a top crypto regulatory advocate to academia.
- Peirce fought enforcement-first crypto regulation, advocating clear rules to foster market innovation.
- Her exit leaves the SEC with only two active commissioners, worsening leadership vacancies at the agency.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce To Step Down on October 2
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is about to lose one of its most pro-crypto commissioners ever.
Hester Peirce, also known as “crypto mom” for her innovative views on crypto regulation, announced she is leaving her current role at the commission to pursue a different path at a law university.
On Friday, Peirce posted a resignation letter dated September 21 on social media, thanking President Trump for allowing her to serve at the SEC and announcing her resignation effective October 2, declaring her tenure at the institution had been “the honor” of her professional lifetime.
“The United States is exceptional because its unifying thread is a commitment to liberty… That ethos runs through the American securities markets, where innovators meet retail and institutional investors so that together they can build a vibrant economy,” Peirce pointed out in her letter.
Virginia-based Regent University School of Law announced it will welcome Peirce as an associate professor in November 2026 to expand its strength in federal litigation, labor and employment law, securities regulation, financial markets, administrative governance, public policy, digital assets, and professional formation areas
Peirce, appointed by Trump in 2018, publicly clashed with the institution’s policy under chair Gary Gensler as the SEC embraced a “regulation by enforcement” approach against crypto companies rather than focusing on establishing clear rules for the ecosystem.
Referring to the actions taken against Kraken’s staking program in 2023, Peirce stressed that “using enforcement actions to tell people what the law is in an emerging industry is not an efficient or fair way of regulating.”
“Maximizing people’s freedom to choose what is best for themselves and their families within sensible regulatory parameters designed to give them the confidence to transact with others is a delicate and vitally important task for the regulator,” Peirce concluded in her resignation letter.
Peirce’s departure leaves the SEC unmanned, with only Chairman Paul S. Atkins and Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda now in service. The White House has not announced a substitute for Peirce, and the two commissioner seats that should be occupied by Democrats remain vacant.
