Hester Peirce will depart the SEC on Oct. 2 after serving as commissioner since January 2018. Peirce led the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, contributing to guidance on staking, mining, memecoins an
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce will leave the agency Oct. 2 after serving since January 2018. Known as “Crypto Mom,” Peirce submitted her resignation to the White House and will join Regent University School of Law as an associate professor in November. She has played a prominent role in the SEC’s crypto policy work.
Peirce announced her resignation after nearly nine years at the SEC. She posted a photograph of her resignation letter with the message “T minus 7.” In the letter, Peirce called her SEC service the honor of her professional lifetime.
She also discussed individual choice and sensible regulatory boundaries for U.S. securities markets. Peirce said she was confident Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda would continue the agency’s work.
Her departure will leave Atkins and Uyeda as the SEC’s two remaining commissioners, according to the supplied account. The departure follows the end of Peirce’s formal term in 2025. SEC rules allowed commissioners to remain for approximately 18 additional months when replacements had not arrived.
Peirce led the SEC’s Crypto Task Force after its creation in January 2025. The task force focuses on clarifying federal securities laws for crypto assets and related activities. Her work included policy statements and guidance covering mining, staking, memecoins and crypto asset classifications.
The agency also proposed Regulation Crypto Assets during August. More recently, Peirce participated in the SEC’s Innovation Exemption for tokenized securities. The Sept. 17 order created time-limited exemptions for certain onchain stock trading activities.
Regent University announced in May that Peirce would join its School of Law as an associate professor. Her start date is set for November 2026. The university said her background includes financial regulation, securities law, public policy and digital assets.
Before joining the SEC, Peirce worked in several federal securities-related roles. Meanwhile, the SEC continued releasing crypto-related guidance during Peirce’s final weeks. On Sept. 23, she delivered remarks at the SIFMA Digital Assets Conference.
The agency also issued recent material addressing crypto asset classifications and related regulatory questions. Those efforts covered token marketing, staking receipt tokens and promoter considerations.
