SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Capital Markets Summit on Tuesday that she is preparing to leave the agency and Washington, D.C.
“After nearly thirty years in DC, I am leaving the city and moving to the beach,” Peirce said in remarks published by the SEC. She described herself as “a soon-to-be former regulator.”
Peirce was first appointed to the Commission in 2018 and was designated as the leader of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, which was set up to clarify how federal securities laws apply to digital assets.
Her departure removes a key internal advocate for the agency’s recent crypto policy work, which she described in Tuesday’s speech as part of an effort to return to the SEC’s “statutorily mandated regulatory territory.”
Regent University announced in May that Peirce will join the Regent University School of Law as an Associate Professor in November 2026.
Her second term as commissioner expired on June 5, 2025. Under SEC rules, commissioners may continue to serve up to 18 months beyond the expiration of their term.
