Hester Peirce has urged the SEC to establish clear regulations that formally incorporate crypto oversight.
Peirce, who leads the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto enforcement team, shared her perspective on digital asset regulation under a Trump presidency during the DC Blockchain Summit.
To ensure stability in crypto regulation, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce recommended policies that could withstand shifts in administration viewpoints.
While addressing the DC Blockchain Summit on March 26, Peirce, who heads the SEC’s crypto task force, emphasized that agency rulemaking and congressional action together could strengthen the durability of digital asset regulations.
Unlike informal guidance from the agency—such as its latest claim that memecoins are not securities—these regulations and laws would create a more formalized framework.
“I hope people won’t be sitting around thinking about the Howey test,” said Peirce, referring to a method to determine whether an asset is a security. “Your lawyers have to think about these things, I’m not saying that they’ll not be relevant, but it shouldn’t be the kind of thing that is driving what you decide to build. I want there to be enough clarity on the question of what falls in our jurisdiction and then, if it does, how you can move forward.”
Peirce made these statements at a time when the SEC had dropped multiple investigations and enforcement proceedings against top crypto firms, including Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, and Immutable.
Some believe that acting chair Mark Uyeda shifted the SEC’s policy to reflect President Trump’s push to drop cases against firms that contributed to his 2024 campaign.
Since January, legislators in the 119th Congress have proposed moving ahead with a market structure bill to outline the SEC’s and Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s roles in digital asset regulation.
On his third day in office, Trump signed an executive order that launched a working group focused on developing a regulatory framework for stablecoins, among other initiatives.
On March 27, US lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee will likely question Paul Atkins, whom Trump selected as an SEC commissioner last December, about his crypto regulatory views.
The crypto industry has strongly backed the ex-commissioner, given his investments in Securitize, a real-world asset tokenization firm, and his role in a consulting business tied to FTX.
Although the banking committee may advance Atkins’ nomination, the Senate must still confirm him for a term lasting until 2031. However, many expect him to step into the SEC chair role, replacing Commissioner Uyeda.
