The SEC’s Quiet Revolution: Hester Peirce on Crypto’s Regulatory Reset
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce outlines the agency’s pivot toward regulatory clarity in crypto, from rescinding SAB 121 to dismissing the Binance case.
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When the SEC dropped its high-profile lawsuit against Binance on May 30, it didn’t just close a legal chapter — it sent a message. To some, it was a signal that the agency is no longer the adversary of crypto innovation. To others, it was confirmation that the U.S. is finally ready to stop chasing its own tail on digital asset regulation. Either way, there’s one voice helping to shape this new direction from within: Commissioner Hester Peirce.
In a fresh interview with CNBC, Peirce — known in crypto circles as “Crypto Mom” — shared her evolving outlook. She has long criticized the SEC's enforcement-heavy approach. Now, under a dramatically different political and regulatory climate, she’s taking the lead in crafting a framework that might finally make sense to the industry it aims to govern.
It's been really a nice change… for many years now I've been complaining that the Commission has not taken proactive steps to provide clarity — and now we can.
From Enforcement to Engagement
Peirce is clear: the SEC is no longer acting like a sniper targeting crypto startups from afar. Instead, she’s convening closed-door meetings with founders, hosting industry roundtables, and working with other regulators and Congress to address long-standing ambiguities.
She acknowledges that crypto players don’t all agree on what clarity should look like — and that’s part of the challenge:
- Some want minimal oversight, others demand more rules.
- Traditional custodians seek access, while crypto-native firms fight for relevance.
The agency, she insists, must thread that needle by staying grounded in precedent but open to innovation.
We have to try to set crypto in the legal precedent that we have. As with any securities issue, you're going to have lawyers who disagree.
SAB 121: A Rule That Wasn’t a Rule
Peirce championed the rescinding of SAB 121, an accounting bulletin that had severely restricted traditional financial institutions from entering crypto custody. Issued without a formal rulemaking process, it required institutions to record customers’ crypto assets on their balance sheets — triggering massive compliance headaches.
It wasn't even a rule… [SAB 121] practically speaking, kept traditional entities out of crypto custody.
By removing it, the SEC has opened the door to banks and other legacy players to enter the space, potentially raising the bar for security and reliability.
Meme Coins and Market Realism
Peirce also clarified why the SEC is taking a hands-off approach to meme tokens — including those launched by President Trump. Contrary to speculation, she said the decision was about transparency, not favoritism.
If you're expecting that there's SEC protection around these, you should not expect that.
That doesn’t mean the agency has abandoned oversight. Rather, Peirce emphasized the need for rules to come before enforcement — not the other way around.
Before you start enforcing rules, you have to have the rules in place. That’s really where we’re trying to go.
Binance Dismissal: A New Legal Era?
Perhaps the most striking signal came with the dismissal of the SEC’s lawsuit against Binance, which had accused the exchange of securities violations, commingling funds, and listing unregistered tokens.
We didn’t have a clear set of rules… We’re trying to take a step back, write those rules, and then enforce them.
The case’s closure, with prejudice, means those charges can’t be refiled. While it’s not a free pass — Peirce stressed that fraud enforcement will continue — it does represent a strategic reset. Enforcement is no longer policy-by-default.
From Friction to Framework
The SEC’s new posture suggests a tectonic shift: from reactive prosecution to structured rulemaking. That includes opening the door to experiments in tokenized public equities and private market access — areas once considered regulatory third rails.
Congress has already given us the authority to make adjustments… we can do that with the authority we have already.
If crypto was once a regulatory minefield, Peirce is helping lay the groundwork for a navigable map. Whether that leads to responsible innovation or opens the gates to excess will depend on how the agency executes in the coming months.
But one thing is clear: Crypto Mom is no longer just complaining from the sidelines. She’s helping to redraw them.
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