- Longtime SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, known as “Crypto Mom,” will leave the regulator to join the Regent University School of Law as a faculty member in November.
- Her departure will leave the SEC with only two commissioners, exacerbating vacancies that also affect the CFTC under the Trump administration.
- The move aligns with a major shift in the SEC‘s approach to crypto, including dropped enforcement actions, as a market structure bill that reallocates regulatory authority moves through Congress.
Hester Peirce, the influential SEC commissioner and head of its crypto task force, will depart the agency this November to become an associate professor at the Regent University School of Law. The university said she will bolster its academic focus on securities regulation and digital assets. Her term officially ended in June 2025, but she remained serving under standard agency procedures.
Peirce was confirmed to the SEC in 2017 and served two terms, becoming a prominent advocate for clearer crypto rules. Consequently, her exit will leave only two Republican commissioners, Mark Uyeda and Chair Paul Atkins, on the five-member panel. Meanwhile, the previous Democratic commissioner, Caroline Crenshaw, departed in January, and her seat also remains unfilled.
Since President Trump took office in 2025, the SEC has radically changed its crypto enforcement approach. The agency has notably dropped several investigations and actions against crypto companies.
The CFTC faces similar staffing challenges, with Chair Michael Selig currently serving as its sole commissioner. However, a pending digital asset market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, is expected to shift key regulatory authority from the SEC to the CFTC. Many lawmakers are now calling for President Trump to nominate a full, bipartisan slate of commissioners for both agencies.
✅ Follow BITNEWSBOT on Telegram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X.com, and Google News for instant updates.
