(Bloomberg) — US Securities and Exchange Commission member Hester Peirce is set to depart the agency and join Regent University School of Law as an associate professor in November, according to a statement from the Virginia school.
An advocate for the digital asset industry, Peirce has served as an SEC commissioner since 2018 and was tapped to lead the agency’s crypto task force last year. She had been nicknamed “Crypto Mom” by the industry for her dissents against Biden-era enforcement actions on digital asset companies.
Peirce’s exit could leave what is supposed to be a five-person, bipartisan commission with just Chairman Paul Atkins and Republican Commissioner Mark Uyeda. Typically, the chairman is from the party that controls the White House and the other four commissioners include two Democrats and two Republicans.
Peirce emphasized in a statement Thursday that her departure date has not been set yet.
“Until I leave the commission, my focus is on the work of the SEC,” Peirce said.
Prior to joining the agency, Peirce conducted research at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and was a senior counsel on the Senate Banking Committee.
