Hester Peirce to join Regent Law, leave SEC in 2026

Hester Peirce, an SEC commissioner known for her pro–crypto dissents, will join Regent University School of Law as an associate professor in November 2026, the Virginia school announced in a May 19 press release. Regent said Peirce will teach securities regulation, financial markets, digital assets and public policy and that the hire accompanies the addition of former Solicitor of Labor Gregory F. Jacob to the faculty.

Peirce joined the SEC in January 2018 after serving as senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee and as a senior research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. in economics from Case Western Reserve University. Her second five-year term at the SEC expired in June 2025, and she has been serving in a holdover capacity since then. Peirce indicated in March 2025 that she would not seek another nomination; her X account had not confirmed the Regent appointment as of this writing.

At the SEC, Peirce was the most frequent internal dissenter on digital asset enforcement matters. She criticized reliance on enforcement actions instead of formal rulemaking and proposed a token safe harbor that would give development teams up to three years to reach network decentralization before securities registration requirements apply. Some industry participants and attorneys credited her dissents with helping clear the way for approvals of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in 2024 and with softer agency positions on certain tokens and developer activities in 2025.

In January 2025 Peirce took leadership of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force. The initiative has held public roundtables, rescinded prior guidance on bank custody and added named industry members to advise on tokenization and exchange rules. The task force has been part of efforts inside the agency to increase engagement with market participants on digital-asset policy.

Regent’s press release described the hires as adding “two nationally respected legal leaders with rare experience at the highest levels of federal law, regulation, and public service” to a faculty focused on mentoring the next generation of Christian lawyers. An industry observer wrote on social media that Peirce’s record at the SEC would be remembered for her support of innovation in digital assets.

Peirce’s departure will reduce the number of consistent pro-industry voices at the SEC at a time when stablecoin rules, tokenization frameworks and exchange registration questions remain unresolved. The Commission is operating with three commissioners following a recent Democratic departure. Senator Cynthia Lummis has signaled plans to retire from public office in 2027, and the White House’s choice to fill Peirce’s seat will affect the balance of views on token classification, custody and exchange registration.

Peirce’s move into academia follows other agency officials who returned to teaching after government service. She is scheduled to begin at Regent in November 2026.