Hester Peirce to Join Regent University Law in 2026

Hester Peirce will leave the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2026 to join Regent University School of Law as an associate professor, Regent wrote in a May 19 press release. She will teach securities regulation, financial markets, digital assets and public policy. The start date aligns with the end of her holdover service after her second five-year term expired in June 2025; she indicated in March 2025 that she would not seek reappointment.

Peirce joined the SEC in January 2018. Before that she served as senior counsel on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee and as a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. in economics from Case Western Reserve University.

During her tenure Peirce frequently dissented on the agency’s approach to digital assets and argued for clearer written rules. She proposed a token safe harbor that would give development teams up to three years to decentralize networks before securities registration requirements applied. In January 2025 she led the agency’s Crypto Task Force, which organized public roundtables, rescinded prior bank custody guidance and added named industry members to advise on tokenization and exchange rules.

Industry participants credit her dissents with helping clear regulatory space that led to approvals for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in 2024 and to softer SEC stances on meme coins and developer activity in 2025. Parts of the crypto sector referred to her as Crypto Mom. An industry observer commented, ‘No matter where Hester Peirce goes next, her impact on crypto regulation will be remembered.’

Her departure reduces the number of commissioners viewed as industry-friendly at a time when the SEC has not finalized rules for stablecoins, tokenization and exchange registration. The agency is operating with three commissioners following a recent Democratic resignation. How the White House fills Peirce’s seat will affect the future direction of rulemaking on token classification, custody and exchanges.

Regent’s announcement paired Peirce’s hire with that of former Solicitor of Labor Gregory F. Jacob. Peirce will join a law faculty that emphasizes training lawyers within a Christian educational setting. Former SEC chair Gary Gensler returned to academia after his agency service, joining MIT Sloan. Peirce is scheduled to begin teaching in November 2026.