Finance26 September, 20262 min read
Hester Peirce Resigns From SEC, Leaving SEC With Paul Atkins and Mark Uyeda
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Hester Peirce resigns from the SEC effective October 2, 2026. She will join Regent University School of Law as an associate professor in November.
22 outlets told this the same way.
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SEC and CFTC shrink
Hester Peirce will leave the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 2, reducing the SEC to two commissioners, Chair Paul Atkins and Mark Uyeda, after her departure on Friday.
“Hester Peirce, who served as a commissioner with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for eight years, will leave the agency about two months before the end of the 18-month extension for her second term.”
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will remain led by Chair Michael Selig as the sole commissioner, with the CFTC having been led that way since December 2025 when acting chair Caroline Pham departed.
A Cointelegraph update said the change would leave “Seven commissioner seats at the SEC and CFTC” empty after Friday, leaving only a few leaders at financial regulators to oversee aspects of the $3 trillion crypto industry.
A CFTC spokesperson said Selig “welcomes new Commissioners to the CFTC upon their nomination and confirmation by the US Senate” and that the agency was “more than equipped to also oversee [its] part of the crypto market.”
Rulemaking without CLARITY
The Digital Asset Clarity (CLARITY) Act failed in the Republican-controlled Senate earlier this month, and the SEC and CFTC continued advancing crypto regulation through rulemaking rather than laws passed by Congress. Cointelegraph said the SEC issued staff guidance on investment contracts while the CFTC specified how companies could use blockchain recordkeeping as the agencies interpreted federal laws without the bill.
Senate Democrats criticized the administration in a June letter, saying “the Trump Administration appears intent on ensuring that it retains complete control over these agencies, with little interest in working in good faith with Congress.” A White House official told reporters that Trump intended to nominate members to both agencies “in the near future,” while the White House had not announced any nominations or intention to nominate additional members.
Peirce’s exit and next
Peirce posted a resignation letter on social media with the message “T minus 7,” and PYMNTS tied the countdown to the Friday (Oct. 2) effective date of her resignation.
“‘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 said.”
Peirce told The Block in an interview that “It’s harder to take them away,” arguing that as people get used to using cryptocurrencies under newly implemented rules, it would be harder to remove them later.
The resignation letter addressed to President Donald Trump said “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.”
Regent University announced that it would welcome Peirce as an Associate Professor in November, and Peirce said she left the SEC confident that under Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda the agency would continue to achieve that balance.