Hester Peirce will depart the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 2, ending a run as commissioner that began in January 2018 and made her the agency's most prominent voice on digital asset policy.

Known in the industry 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 2026.

Peirce Sets Date for SEC Departure

Peirce announced her resignation after nearly nine years at the SEC, posting a photograph of her resignation letter with the message “T minus 7.” News of the move circulated on X, including via a post by WuBlockchain (https://x.com/WuBlockchain/status/2103689170283856132?s=20).

In the letter, Peirce described her SEC service as the honor of her professional lifetime. She also wrote about individual choice and sensible regulatory boundaries for U.S. securities markets, and said she was confident that Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda would carry the agency's work forward.

Her departure will leave Atkins and Uyeda as the SEC's two remaining commissioners, according to the report. The SEC can seat as many as five commissioners under federal securities law, with members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate; the report did not name a successor for Peirce's seat. The exit 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 yet arrived.

Crypto Policy Shaped Peirce's SEC Tenure

Peirce led the SEC's Crypto Task Force after its creation in January 2025. The task force focuses on clarifying how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets and related activities. Under her leadership, the agency issued policy statements and guidance covering mining, staking, memecoins and crypto asset classifications.

Her engagement with digital asset policy long predates the task force. In 2020, she put forward a formal safe harbor proposal that would have given token projects a defined grace period to develop before securities registration requirements could attach, and she repeatedly filed dissenting statements in crypto enforcement matters brought by the commission.

The SEC also proposed Regulation Crypto Assets during August. More recently, Peirce participated in the agency's Innovation Exemption for tokenized securities, a Sept. 17 order that created time-limited exemptions for certain onchain stock trading activities.

Peirce's final weeks at the agency remained active. On Sept. 23, she delivered remarks at the SIFMA Digital Assets Conference. The SEC also issued recent material addressing crypto asset classifications and related regulatory questions, covering token marketing, staking receipt tokens and promoter considerations. Her last day falls roughly two weeks after the Innovation Exemption order, with the Regulation Crypto Assets proposal still awaiting final action by the commission.

Regent University Awaits Peirce in November

Regent University announced in May that Peirce would join its School of Law as an associate professor, with her start date set for November 2026. The university said her background spans financial regulation, securities law, public policy and digital assets.

Before joining the SEC, Peirce worked in several federal securities-related roles, including time on the SEC staff in the mid-2000s, where she served as counsel to then-Commissioner Paul Atkins — now the agency's chairman — along with congressional staff experience and a period at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

Source: Cryptofrontnews — https://cryptofrontnews.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-to-leave-agency-oct-2-after-nearly-nine-years/