Commissioner Hester Peirce Awarded 2nd Term at SEC

From now until 2025, the world of blockchain can look forward to at least one friendly face residing at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this week, Commissioner Hester Peirce was successfully voted into a subsequent term at the regulatory body.

Senate Approval

The vote, which took place on August 6^th, 2020, was completed by the U.S. Senate. While no outcome is ever assured, this decision had been anticipated for months now, as the initial nomination was put forth six months prior, on February 6^th.

A History of Dissent

While there are a variety of reasons that the blockchain and cryptocurrency community have become enamored with Commissioner Peirce – earning her the moniker of ‘Crypto Mom’ – the most obvious is her previous statements of dissent.

A statement of dissent simply refers to the expression of a belief, contrary to those of others, and their actions made. In the past few years, Commissioner Peirce has voiced her dissent on multiple occasions.

Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, 2018

The first statement of dissent, issued by Commissioner Peirce, revolved around the denial of a Bitcoin based exchange traded fund (ETF) application in 2018. While the main mandate of the SEC is to protect investors, Commissioner Peirce felt their actions did just the opposite. She stated, “…I am concerned that the Commission’s approach undermines investor protection by precluding greater institutionalization of the bitcoin market. More institutional participation would ameliorate many of the Commission’s concerns with the bitcoin market that underlie its disapproval order.”

Exchange Traded Funds (ETF), 2020

In early 2020, Commissioner Peirce reiterated her opposing stance regarding cryptocurrencies and ETF type products. In the time between her initial statement on the Winklevoss fund in 2018 and now, the SEC had gone on to deny various applications – essentially doubling down on their stance. She stated, “…I warned that the Commission’s hesitancy to embrace new products and technologies impedes innovation in this country and threatens to drive entrepreneurs, and the opportunities they create, to other jurisdictions. The Commission’s actions in this area over the past eighteen months confirm these concerns. Meanwhile, investor interest in gaining exposure to bitcoin continues to grow.”

Telegram, 2020

This example is the most recent of the three. Taking place in July of 2020, during a speech at Blockchain Week Singapore, Commissioner Peirce touched on why she thought the SEC’s actions against Telegram were flawed. While her stance was not divulged in an official statement of dissent, it was clear nonetheless. She stated, “Telegram chose to end its legal battle by settling with us. I did not support the settlement because I did not support the underlying action. I do not support the message that distributing tokens inherently involves a securities transaction.”