SEC Commissioner Peirce to leave agency

• Key takeaway: Securities and Exchange Commission member Hester Peirce will leave the agency Oct. 2, months after her second five-year term expired in June 2025.
• Expert quote: "I leave this position confident that under the excellent leadership of Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda, the talented men and women of the Securities and Exchange Commission will continue to achieve that balance." —SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce
• What's at stake: The White House has not announced whom it will nominate to succeed Peirce as SEC commissioner.  

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce announced Friday that she will leave the agency on Oct. 2.

Peirce's second 5-year term expired in June 2025, but she has remained at the SEC in a holdover capacity. Commissioners may continue serving for a limited period after their terms expire if their successors have not been appointed and qualified.

In a letter published on X, Peirce thanked President Donald Trump for the opportunity to serve as commissioner and expressed confidence that the agency will continue to strike a balance between regulation and individual choice.

"Maximizing people's freedom to choose what is best for themselves and their families with sensible regulatory parameters designed to give them the confidence to transact with others is a delicate and vitally important task for the regulator," she wrote. "I leave this position confident that under the excellent leadership of Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda, the talented men and women of the Securities and Exchange Commission will continue to achieve that balance."

Peirce will join Regent University's law school in Virginia as an associate professor in November, according to a university press release.

Peirce is the SEC's longest-serving current commissioner. Trump appointed her in 2018 during his first term, and the Senate confirmed her to a second term by voice vote in 2020.

Peirce, who has been dubbed "crypto mom" for her embrace of the industry, has criticized the SEC's use of "regulation by enforcement" on crypto issues. She previously led the agency's crypto task force, which was tasked with developing "workable solutions to difficult crypto regulatory problems." 

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"During the past several years, enforcement cases have been used as a way to make regulatory policy; that is very atypical," Peirce told Bloomberg TV in 2025. "We're trying to get back to a path where we're really using our other tools to make policy."

Her exit comes as the SEC has taken steps toward integrating cryptocurrency more deeply into the traditional financial system.

With the crypto market structure bill stalled indefinitely, the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have said they will pursue their own rules to clarify their respective responsibilities and create clearer registration pathways for exchanges and custodians.

In September, the SEC issued an order allowing some tokenized U.S. stocks to be traded on blockchain-based platforms under a temporary, limited regulatory framework. 

Alongside the "innovation exemption," the SEC proposed rulemaking in August that would streamline how crypto companies raise money. The proposed rules, dubbed "Regulation Crypto Assets," include two exemptions that would allow certain crypto companies to raise capital without going through the traditional securities registration process.

The White House has not announced a nominee to replace Peirce on the commission.