Hester Peirce, known as crypto mom, resigns from SEC effective October 2
The SEC's most pro-crypto commissioner is leaving to teach law, cutting the agency to two active commissioners and deepening its leadership vacancies.
Key points
- Peirce posted a resignation letter dated September 21, with her departure effective October 2.
- She will join Regent University School of Law in Virginia as an associate professor in November 2026.
- Peirce was appointed by President Trump in 2018 and clashed with the Gensler-era regulation-by-enforcement approach.
- She criticised the 2023 action against Kraken's staking programme as an unfair way to regulate an emerging industry.
- Only Chairman Paul S. Atkins and Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda remain, with two Democratic seats still vacant.
Hester Peirce, the US Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner widely known as crypto mom, has resigned from the agency effective October 2, Bitcoin.com News reports. She announced the move in a resignation letter dated September 21 that she posted on social media on Friday. In the letter she thanked President Trump for the chance to serve and called her time at the commission the honour of her professional lifetime.
Peirce will move into academia. Regent University School of Law, based in Virginia, said it will welcome her as an associate professor in November 2026. The university said the appointment expands its strength in areas including securities regulation, financial markets, administrative governance, public policy and digital assets.
Resignation letter and timing
Peirce was appointed to the SEC by Trump in 2018 and became one of the institution's most pro-crypto voices. She publicly clashed with the agency's direction under former chair Gary Gensler, when the SEC pursued a regulation-by-enforcement approach against crypto companies instead of setting clear rules for the sector.
She pointed to the 2023 action against Kraken's staking programme as an example of that approach. Using enforcement actions to tell people what the law is in an emerging industry is not an efficient or fair way of regulating, she said. In her letter she argued that maximising people's freedom to choose what is best for themselves and their families, within sensible regulatory parameters, is a delicate and vitally important task for a regulator.
Clashes over enforcement
Her departure leaves the SEC with only two active commissioners: Chairman Paul S. Atkins and Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda. The White House has not announced a replacement for Peirce, and the two commissioner seats that should be held by Democrats remain vacant.
The resignation removes a prominent advocate for clearer crypto rules from the agency at a time when it is already short of leadership. For crypto firms and investors watching US regulation, the loss of Peirce's voice shifts a key source of internal advocacy into academia, while the vacant seats leave questions over how the commission's crypto stance will develop.