Hester Peirce to Leave SEC on Oct. 2

Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, will leave the agency on Oct. 2, the agency said. Peirce continued working in a holdover capacity after her five-year term ended in June 2025 because a successor had not been appointed and qualified.

Peirce announced her resignation in a letter posted on X, where she thanked President Donald Trump for the appointment. Commissioners are permitted to remain temporarily after their terms expire under SEC rules when no successor is in place.

Regent University’s law school said Peirce will join its faculty as an associate professor in November. Her resignation creates an open seat on the five-member commission; the White House has not named a nominee to fill it.

Peirce was first confirmed to the SEC in 2018 and won a second term by voice vote in 2020. She is the commission’s longest-serving current member.

At the SEC, Peirce became known for a pro-innovation stance on digital assets. She led the agency’s crypto task force and advocated for clearer rules and greater use of rulemaking rather than relying mainly on enforcement actions.

She has criticized the use of enforcement cases to make regulatory policy, calling that approach “very atypical.”

During her tenure the SEC has taken steps affecting digital assets. In September the agency issued an order allowing some tokenized U.S. stocks to trade on blockchain-based platforms under a limited, temporary framework. In August the SEC proposed rules called “Regulation Crypto Assets” that would create registration pathways and exemptions for certain crypto fundraising activities.

Congressional legislation on crypto market structure remains stalled. The SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have said they will pursue their own rulemaking to clarify responsibilities for exchanges and custodians in the meantime.

In her resignation letter Peirce wrote, “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 added that she leaves the agency “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.”

Her departure reduces the number of sitting commissioners and leaves the White House to nominate a replacement who must be confirmed by the Senate.