U.S. SEC’s steadiest crypto advocate, Hester Peirce, to depart next week

Her crypto work included a wide range of policy statements and guidance that clarified the agency’s position on various aspects of the industry, including mining, staking, memcoins and — most importantly — a series of definitions for classifying different types of crypto assets and which regulator would have dominion. More recently, the agency began proposing formal rules, beginning with one known as Regulation Crypto Assets, which set up a system for offering crypto assets without triggering stringent securities regulations.

The agency’s biggest splash, though, may have been its recent opening of the pathway for tokenizing securities. The effort known as the “innovation exemption” is meant to launch the tokenized securities era in a limited, five-year approach that will inform plans for eventual agency rules that make it more permanent.

“Maximizing people’s freedom to choose what is best for themselves and their families within sensible regulatory parameters designed to give them the confidence to transact with others is a delicate and vitally important task for the regulator,” Peirce, who’s going to be an associate professor at Regent University School of Law, wrote in her resignation.

Peirce acknowledged her nickname, “Crypto Mom,” in a 2019 speech during the industry-resistant era at the agency, and she also noted the agency had “hindered innovation and growth,” saying, “The only guidance out of the SEC is a parade of enforcement actions and a set of staff guidance documents and staff no-action letters.”