Hester Peirce. Source: CNBC
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has tapped Hester Peirce for a second term as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as her current one is set to expire on June 5th, 2020. Peirce is a vocal defendant of Bitcoin as she opposed the rejections of a Bitcoin-based ETF by the Commission.
According to a Bloomberg Law report from today, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has nominated Hester Peirce for a second term at the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Her current term is set to expire tomorrow, June 5th, but if appointed, she could serve until at least 2025 with Senate confirmation.
Peirce is well-known through the cryptocurrency community as she’s expressed her support and progressive thinking more than once. She was even dubbed “Crypto Mom” as she dissented against the SEC’s decision to reject a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application filed by Gemini founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss back in 2018.
But she’s done a lot more than just that.
In July 2018, Hester Peirce, serving as a Commissioner with the SEC, dissented against a decision of the regulator to decline a proposed rule change to list and trade shares of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust on Bats BZX Exchange.
Some of the merits behind the rejection included market manipulation and lack of investor protection.
According to Peirce, however, the SEC’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 the disapproval of the order.”
Unfortunately, we have yet to see an approval of a Bitcoin ETF. However, there’s some light in the tunnel as the Chairman of the SEC Jay Clayton said in a CNBC interview that it’s possible “but there’s work left to be done.”
More recently, Peirce extended her support to more than just Bitcoin, proposing a 3-year safe harbor for cryptocurrency token sales.
