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SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on where crypto rules are going.

Hester Peirce, Washington, DC, 6 min

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Executive producer: C.Y. Lee

To quote this piece: Hester Peirce, “SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on where crypto rules are going,” We Them Media, https://wethem.xyz/watch/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-on-crypto-rules-black-blockchain-summit. Each transcript line links to its second.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, at the Black Blockchain Summit at Howard University in Washington, DC, on what the agency is doing about crypto. She is named on tape by the host, “thank you for that, Commissioner Pierce”; the roundtable she mentions “in October” places the talk in the autumn of 2025, ahead of its publication in May 2026.

The agency is going out to people who cannot come to it: “we’re also going out on the road, and we’re engaging with people on the road who can’t travel to DC. And really the target there is small crypto companies that are new.” The central policy question, she says, is the line: “this question of where the line is between a security and a non-security is a crucial question for a lot of the other regulatory issues that we have to decide.” Some things have been carved out, and she wants that understood: “It’s not to say that you should assume that there’s no problem in those areas. It’s just you have to understand that the SEC is not regulating those areas.”

She revisits her safe harbor proposal for token launches, “a way for crypto projects to release their tokens to the public,” and says the agency is looking at putting something like it into regulation, though “it probably will not look exactly like what I proposed because the market has changed.” Then tokenized stocks, the stablecoin act and the market structure bill in Congress. Asked how a task force makes sure communities are represented, her answer is an invitation: “If you have something that you think we should be thinking about, you need to tell us.” And: “my door is always open.”

A primary source on where the rules are going. The transcript below is from the original audio.

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0:00AAnd then we’re having another roundtable in October that will be on privacy issues, which I think for really financial privacy is an issue I care a lot about. It’s one that comes up a lot in crypto, and so we’ll be doing that. But we’re also going out on the road, and we’re engaging with people on the road who can’t travel to DC. And really the target there is small crypto companies that are new, small number of employees. We welcome people to participate in those crypto show events. You can again go to the website and see where we’re planning to go. For those of you who are based here, you can see if you all can be able to talk to us in our offices at BC.

0:00AIn terms of policy objectives, I mean, I think this question of where the line is between a security and a non-security is a crucial question for a lot of the other regulatory issues that we have to decide. And so that’s the thing that we’re working on. We had carved certain things out of SEC jurisdiction in the sense of saying that Congress didn’t give us the authority to do this and we want you to know that we don’t have the court of bean coins, staking, mining, or examples of that. It’s not to say that you should assume that there’s no problem in those areas. It’s just you have to understand that the SEC is not regulating those areas.

0:00AAnd then we’re looking toward pool banking. Several years ago I put out a proposal for Safe Harbor, a way for crypto projects to release their tokens to the public. do so with a set of disclosures and then work toward decentralization. We’re looking at whether we can put something like that into regulation. It probably will not look exactly like what I proposed because the market has changed and the environment has changed. But we are trying to get there. And then we’re working hard with our regulated entities, our registrants at the SEC who want to engage with crypto, who want to serve their customers who are interested in interacting with crypto, whether that’s an exchange, an exchange like we call the ATS, broker dealers, investment advisors, investment companies.

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1:52ASo we spend a lot of our time there and then we’re also working on an issue that’s really got a lot more attention this year and that’s tokenization of traditional securities like stocks, bonds, particularly stocks. There’s a lot of interest in that and so we’re working with the native crypto companies and more traditional financial firms that are interested in participating there. And then finally, as you probably know, the Congress Passage Act, which govern stable points, they’re also working on a market structure bill. And that market structure bill is one that would give authority to us at the CFTC and so we’re working with Congress for life and our technical assistance to tell them how we think the laws in place and what that goes down on us.

1:52AI guess one final thing, the president issued a report, which you can go look up, it’s a pretty lengthy report and it kind of goes through all of the areas that the federal government has a touch point on crypto. So that’s the president’s,

3:41Bwhat the president wanted to do to report on digital assets. There are a number of experts on task force. How does a task force ensure that the communities and businesses represent?

4:01AWell, that is really a concern for us because I think one of the reasons that regulation, one of the ways you can make sure regulation is effective is to ensure that you’re getting the input of the people that’s going to affect. And so we really do encourage lots of written input, lots of meetings. If you have something that you think we should be thinking about, you need to tell us. And we encourage that. And again, if you see, usually when I travel to a different city, I’ll say I’m going to be in whatever city it is, if you want to meet with me. It doesn’t have to be about crypto, it doesn’t have to be about anything.

4:01AAnd I really welcome people that take me up on that. And for those of you who are based here in DC, my door is always open so you can come easily as well. I love hearing from people who are affected by our goals and really all Americans are affected by what the SEC and state regulators do with respect to securities. It affects the securities you can buy, it affects the financial professionals you can interact with, and it affects how you can raise money. So, you should engage, you should view us as worthy for you, not the other way for you. And thank you for that, Commissioner Peirce.

5:20BAnd I just want to also share that my office is also open to many of you as we regulate not just securities, but also insurance and banking as well.

5:31ASo, we’re at the Black Lockchain Center.

5:34BWe’re here looking at, talking about the powerful convergence of AI in the blockchain. And I know that there will be a separate discussion later on today that will expand upon that a little bit more.

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