“I’m not your mom,” SEC’s Hester Peirce tells crypto market

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce expressed having mixed feelings about her nickname, “crypto mom.” Peirce also said she expects a reshuffle of the SEC’s hierarchy depending on November’s election results.   

Also read: SEC’s Hester Peirce proposes cross-border sandbox for UK-US crypto firms

Peirce earned the “crypto mom” nickname because of her firm support for digital assets. She is also known to be vocal in her criticism of the over-regulation of these assets. Peirce has generally argued that the use of cryptocurrency should be a choice that individuals have to make for themselves, according to DL News. She also said that the SEC must be “a bit more nimbler with respect to innovation.”

Hester Peirce’s reservations about the nickname

Commenting on the “crypto mom” moniker, the SEC Commissioner revealed that while she found the nickname amusing, she also expressed discomfort over the term “mom.”

“I think it’s funny, but at the same time, I do take a little bit of an issue with the term ‘mom’,” she said in an interview with DL News. “I’m not your mom,” she added.

Apart from SEC’s ongoing crackdown on the crypto market and the prospects of exchange traded funds (ETFs), Peirce also discussed the impact of the presidential election.

Her pro-innovation stance on regulation has also created speculation about her role at the SEC. It has led to suggestions that she may take over from the current chairman, Gary Gensler. Gensler’s term runs until 2026. However, SEC chairs usually step down earlier whenever there is a change in administration.

Peirce addresses speculation about becoming the next SEC chair

During the same interview, Peirce also addressed speculations about replacing Gensler as the SEC’s new chair. Peirce is one of the two republican commissioners at the agency and the market has speculated that she might be the upcoming chair if Donald Trump wins the presidential election scheduled for November.

This prospect, according to Coingape, seems appealing to the crypto industry, “which has often found odds with Gensler’s regulatory approach.” Although Peirce acknowledged the possible leadership changes at SEC that come with a new president, she also desisted from making predictions.

Also read: Gensler could remain at SEC under a Trump presidency, crypto lawyer says

“If the president changes, typically the chairman of the SEC will also change in response to that,” Peirce said. She also emphasized that the president has broad discretion in choosing the next chair for the Commission. “It could really be anyone – the president has wide latitude,” she noted.

Prospects of a leadership change at SEC come at a critical time for crypto sector regulation. Recently, the House of Representatives passed the FIT21 Act, which creates a market structure for crypto. The bill gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the SEC’s sister agency more power over spot crypto markets.