SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Hints She Won't Seek Reappointment to Another Term
Crypto Task Force chief says she's got 'a lot' to accomplish before she departs
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce, who has held a Republican seat on the five-member commission since her appointment by President Trump in 2018, tells Crypto In America she wants to move quickly to accomplish as much as possible before her term concludes, implying that she will not seek reappointment for a second term at Wall Street’s securities regulator.
Peirce’s role as head of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, a newly established division aimed at providing regulatory clarity for digital assets, had sparked industry speculation that she may opt to remain for a second term if President Trump decides to renominate her.
During the interview, Peirce seemed to challenge that idea.
“I have a lot of things I want to do before I go, but I think the period in which I can hang on is a good amount of time to get a lot done,” Peirce said during her appearance on the first episode of the Crypto In America podcast Wednesday.
SEC commissioners typically serve five-year terms but can remain in office up to an additional eighteen months until a replacement is confirmed or they are reappointed to a second term. This means that while Peirce’s second term technically expires in June, she could remain in the post until December 2026, or until her replacement is confirmed by the Senate.
“I really want to move quickly,” she explained. “The sooner we can get stuff resolved, then we can move on and we won’t need a dedicated crypto task force anymore.”
Peirce’s receptiveness to digital assets and blockchain technology, along with her criticism of the SEC’s heavy-handed enforcement approach under former Chairman Gary Gensler, earned her the nickname ‘Crypto Mom’ and led to her appointment as head of the Crypto Task Force by Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda.
“It’s a long process to get back to the right place, but at the end of the day we’ll see investors, consumers and industry in a better place,” she said.
It’s unclear who pro-crypto President Trump might choose to replace Peirce when the time comes, but in addition to filling her seat, he will also nominate two candidates to fill the vacant Democratic spots on the commission alongside incoming chairman Paul Atkins and sitting Republican commissioner Uyeda.
Peirce declined to elaborate on what her life after the SEC might look like but said that she is looking forward to some rest.
More highlights from our interview with Commissioner Peirce:
“Meme coins, as broadly understood, are not securities.” — Peirce takes us through the Commission’s recently-issued guidance on so-called meme coins (crypto tokens with no inherent value inspired by internet memes or pop culture trends) and why she believes these cryptos do not fall within the agency’s jurisdiction.
“I’m hoping that we can provide clarity on staking sometime soon.” — Peirce talks about the Crypto Task Force’s conversations with industry regarding staking, saying that she believes it’s better for investors of exchange-traded products if they’re allowed to participate in staking within those funds.
“I feel very strongly about making sure that we’re protecting developers and protecting the ability of people to interact peer-to-peer in the United States.” — Peirce acknowledges that the SEC has some more thinking to do on the DeFi front but that overregulation is not the answer.
“I don’t want to end up in a world where we’re forcing intermediation, that sort of defeats the whole point.”
Leadership Shakeup at Top Crypto Trade Organization
The Digital Chamber, one of Washington D.C.’s leading crypto trade groups, announced Wednesday morning that its founder and CEO Perianne Boring will step down and assume the role of Chair of the Board of Directors.
Boring founded the organization, which advocates for the advancement of crypto and blockchain technology, in 2014 but has taken a less active role in day to day operations in recent months.
Replacing her as CEO will be Digital Chamber President Cody Carbone, who will continue to lead on spearheading the group’s policy and advocacy efforts. Carbone tells Crypto In America he will maintain his role as president in addition to assuming new responsibilities as CEO.
“Cody has been a tremendous leader in Washington, and I have full confidence in his ability to take TDC to the next level,” Boring said in a statement.
The move comes as crypto trade associations are ramping up efforts to advance pro-crypto policy in Washington D.C., as the Trump Administration and Republican-led Congress have pledged to make the U.S. a global leader in the space.
News Flash
In case you missed it, a handful of the week’s hottest headlines:
Trump has nominated Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman for the prominent role of Vice Chair for Supervision, succeeding Michael Barr. In this new position, Bowman will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of banking regulations, including how financial institutions engage with cryptocurrency.
During a fireside chat at the Blockworks Digital Asset Summit with MultiCoin Capital Managing Partner Kyle Samani, Bo Hines, Executive Director of the White House Crypto Council, expressed confidence that stablecoin legislation could pass both chambers of Congress and land on President Trump's desk for signing within just two months. In separate interviews with Crypto in America, both Hines and Samani shared their optimism that a market structure bill to establish regulatory guidelines for digital assets could also be finalized this year.
Real-world-asset tokenization giant Securitize announced plans to launch a new blockchain called Converge, designed to provide institutional investors exposure to decentralized finance (DeFi) and the growing tokenization economy. Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo, whose company partners with money manager behemoth BlackRock on tokenization of real-world-assets, said that institutional adoption is needed for decentralized finance to really take off.
Remember, new editions of the Crypto In America newsletter drop every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7AM EST.
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Great first episode!