SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce to leave post on Oct. 2

Hester Peirce has submitted a formal resignation from her post as commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with the departure set to take effect Oct. 2. In a post on her X account, Peirce shared a copy of her resignation letter in which she expressed gratitude for the role and noted she was leaving the agency while it is led by Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda. Peirce, who gained the informal moniker "Crypto Mom" for her public advocacy of clear, rules-based regulation of the cryptocurrency industry, served on the commission for about eight years. She became director of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force on Feb. 4, 2025, a unit tasked with assessing how existing securities laws should be applied to digital assets and decentralized systems. Her official term at the SEC expired in June 2025, though agency rules allow commissioners to remain in office for roughly 18 months after a term ends if a replacement has not been appointed. Cointelegraph reported in May that Peirce plans to join Regent University’s law school in Virginia as an associate professor beginning in November, where she is expected to support curricula including federal litigation, securities regulation and digital assets. Peirce’s resignation leaves open the question of when her seat will be filled. The other Democratic seat on the commission has been vacant since Caroline Crenshaw left in January, roughly 18 months after her term expired, and the White House had not nominated successors for those positions as of the reporting. Her departure also comes amid a noted change in the SEC’s crypto policy since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, including the agency dropping several enforcement actions and investigations tied to crypto firms, according to the reporting.